The Forest's Melody
by KeepItM
Summary: Everyone likes happiness, no one likes pain. But a rainbow doesn't come without rain. After losing most of his family. A young Snivy is left alone in this empty world with no one to care for him. He faces many challenges that life threw at him as he travels through the land with an Emolga searching for his lost father. Will the Snivy find his father? A heartbreaking story.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Stay with me

Most of the time...my life was frowned upon, and it did not have the best of beginnings. And like all fairy tales, it did not end the way I would like it. All my life I had been hoping for mortality, for I am not content with the reality; that will nudge me into insanity. It did not begin in a palace with riches and jewels galore, and it definitely did not end in happily ever after; with a nice little holy matrimony. This is my story, many would die trying to see it... many would give thousands just to have a little look. But I will not lengthen out my biography with useless facts and details, as I know how it ends...

1936

"Hey Cyrus!" I whispered to my brother who had fallen asleep; leaning against our mother's coil. Mother is a Serperior. She had herself coiled around us to keep us warm, the coil was loose enough not to strangle us, but tight enough to allow the heat to flow right into us. Her emerald coloured scales glistening in the moonlight, most of the time she had the exact same warm cosy smile that she was wearing back then.

"Cyrus, wake up!" I whispered again before using my little Snivy hands to tug his long thin whiskers. Dewotts, especially my brother hate it when I pull on them, it gets on his nerves.

"Stop it." He said in a dreamy tone with his eyes closed, swatting away my hand. "Just let me keep dreaming about…"

"Come on Dew." I nagged him, gently biting his nose.

"Call me Dewott, Cyrus or brother. Call me Dew again and I'll back hand you back to Box Hill."

"But Cyrus..." I whined, shaking him back and forth. "Remember that you promised to take me to see the city lights."

"Can't we go at dawn?" Cyrus asked before yawning loudly.

"You know I can't go outside during the day. Besides, by the time it's dawn the lights would have already disappeared." I asked, shaking him softly.

"Fine, fine, I'll take you. But if mum finds out that we've been lurking around in the forest at night she will roast us, you will be taking full responsibility."

"Yeah, yeah." I said, irritated and rolling my eyes.

Cyrus stretched out both of his arms, letting out a crackling sound in the process. He then moved his black paw to back part of his head to fix his trough shaped fur, mending it back into a crest. The two of us got up and tiptoed out of our mothers coil, unlike our previous attempt, we made sure that we didn't step on our mothers tail.

"Where's my stuff?" Cyrus asked, searching around the set of bushes where he keeps his valuables. The canopy blocked out the moons guidance making everything on the forest floor invisible. To make matters worse, the roots of the trees make an unforgiving tripping hazard.

"Here." I announced, holding onto two sharp scalchops and a sheath. My red fluorescent eyes helped me to see in the dark. The make-shift sheath was made from some sort of brown wood, a poorly made rope was strapped onto it so that the user may wear it like a messenger bag. It didn't hold a sword, it was made to hold a small wooden flute.

"Give me that!" Cyrus snapped before snatching everything off me.

"I was only trying to help." I said, tilting my head down, hiding a sad frown.

Cyrus dusted his unique dark blue arrangement of fur around his waist before hooking the two scalchops to both sides of his thighs. He then wore the sheath like a messenger bag before kneeling in front of me. His soft warm paws cupped my cream coloured cheeks before tilting my head for eye contact. Cyrus knows I like the feeling of warmth, mostly from his soft fur. Sometimes I wish I could just cuddle him all night long.

"C'mon, cheer up." He told me, his black eyes burning my mind. "I was only trying to protect you. Don't want you cutting yourself."

Those few words and the warmth of his paws brought a smile to my face. I am grateful for having Cyrus as a brother, as he is a good brother.

"Come on." He said, getting up and off his knees. "Let's go see the city lights."

We walked side by side through the dark forest, the moons light was blocked out by the clouds and the forest canopy. Cool winds blew throughout the night allowing trees of all shapes and sizes to dance, their leaves scattering to the ground. The singing of Bug pokemon and some Noctowls can be heard echoing alone with natures little orchestra. If you are lucky to see the night sky, it will paint an immortal lasting memory; just because it is so beautiful. During the night, the smallest stars and galaxies can be seen twirling and sparkling with the white sun (the moon). It is because of those few moments, that I wish those memories would last forever.

Cyrus and I weren't scared of the dark. My brother had been in far more dangerous situations, he doesn't need to be scared by the forest night. Cyrus and his trainer had gone through countless dangerous adventures. He recently came back from one of these adventures to visit us. As for me, unlike other kids my age I wasn't scared of the night, because I was raised in the shadows. I had heliophobia, the fear of the sun. I wasn't scared by the suns light, I was scared by its presence. What puzzled me for a long time was that I had no idea how this phobia developed. Maybe Arceus blessed me with a gift, a gift that forces me to hide away in the shadows during the day. So I was left alone, like a monster in the moonlight. Due my fear, I rarely rely on photosynthesis to receive the energy I need.

Cyrus and I walked for a while, and soon we came to a hill.

"Cyrus..." I panted. He stopped climbing the hill and turned around. "I-I can't keep up..." Right after, I fell flat on my face.

Cyrus walked a few steps down the hill and stopped in front of me. His black paws picked me up and placed me around his neck, wearing me like a scarf.

"Thanks." I yawned.

"Well…it is my duty." He said, resuming the climb. "You tired?"

"Yeah...just a little." I replied, his fur made it hard for me to stay awake.

"You can sleep if you want. I'll wake you up when we're there."

With Cyrus's permission I swiftly drifted into the wonder realm. I wasn't sure how long I slept but I was awoken by the sound of a cheery Irish melody.

"Huh..." I said opening my eyes, I found myself sitting on Cyrus's lap.

"You're awake." Cyrus smiled, tucking away his wooden flute.

"I want you see this." He pointed into the distance.

I focused my eyes and saw the amazing view, we were at the top of the hill. Below the hill there was a lush green field and a valley that was tinted grey by the moon. In the valley was a large city, hundreds of different coloured lights dotted the landscape. Some burning brighter than the others. The city didn't have too many tall structures. Near the city was a lake, the water reflected the moons light, making it look... magical. Surrounding the hill was four identical mountains, north, south, east and west. They shield this forest from the wrath of the elements.

"See those lights?" Cyrus pointed.

"Yeah I do. They look amazing!" I exclaimed, wagging my green tail.

"I know they do." He acknowledged, pointing at the brightest dot of light. "Each one of those specs of light represents a family. It's just that if we had a city, our family would burn the brightest."

My smile died.

"…I wish dad were here with us. I never even saw him. So I can't really say I miss him..." I sighed.

"Well one thing's for sure, I certainly miss him." Cyrus added, staring at the sheath.

"What was dad like?" I asked, looking at my brother. "Is he a Serperior like mum?"

Cyrus stared at me and laughed.

"Of course not you dummy." He giggled. "He is a Samurott, and a proud one."

"Where did he go? Will he ever come back?"

"Our dad left the moment you hatched." Cyrus hesitated. "He told me to take care of mum and you and if we ever needed him he'll be beyond the east mountains. I hope you could understand what he did for us, it was for a good reason."

I jumped up and spun myself around to find the mountain, a gigantic piece of rock stood firmly on the ground. A terrible urge erupted in my heart, the urge to climb over that mountain and to find my father. At the same time the newfound feelings of determination were easily crushed by the feeling of helplessness. My little Snivy body cannot take on the challenges ahead, I knew that as much.

"Will you promise not to leave us like dad." I said, hopping back into Cyrus's lap.

"Unfortunately…" He sighed. "I have to return to my trainer in two days. He allowed me to come back to visit you guys, I'll have to stick to his promise."

"Can I come?" I questioned, disappointed by his previous answer.

"No. It's too dangerous for a young snake like you. Mum is okay with human contact but your too young."

"Why can you go if it's so dangerous?"

"Because I am old enough to take care of myself. Mum knows I would be safe out there in the world. And if I did get hurt, my trainer would be able to help me."

My eyes started to tear up, I didn't want Cyrus to leave. He was the "rare kind of brother", he didn't discriminate me for my phobia, as he believed it's what makes me special. Cyrus sometimes even hesitates to try helping me recover from my fear but even with his help I am still unable walk out from the shadows. He is a nice brother, I want to stay with him forever, maybe even call him dad.

"Don't leave mum and I!" I cried, hugging him around the waist. "I want you to stay with us! I want you to stay with mum and I! I don't want to be alone!"

"I'm sorry." He apologised while running his paw down my back. "One day you'll be a Servine, a strong one. And when that day comes, I'll take you to places that will blow your mind."

I cried and cried until the front part of his chest was wet from my tears.

"Here." He offered, handing me his sheath. "Take it."

Still crying, I let go of his fur and held the wooden sheath.

"Dad gave me this flute. He told me he would not always be with me but the song of the sea will. Play a tune when you feel alone, the music will guide you." Cyrus said, patting my back. "He told me that a long time ago there existed a demon and an angel. The two force raged war... causing death, destruction and chaos. They caused so much commotion that a human God, fed up by their battles... sealed them both into a wooden flute. Legends say if the user plays the right melody to satisfy them, the user will be blessed with unimaginable powers."

Usually I wouldn't believe in such legends or mythologies but a part of Cyrus's voice sounded serious. The closest thing we have of father is his flute, to us, it's something special to have by your side.

"Really?" I sniffed, wiping away my tears while holding the sheath.

"It's true." Cyrus said. "I believe in you. I believe you could be blessed with this gift."

"Thanks." I smiled, giving him another hug. "I wish you were my dad."

"Let's hope that isn't true." Cyrus laughed. "Now, let's head home before mum finds out."

That night a wave of determination sparked within me, I wanted to be like my brother, I wanted to be strong like him so I may go on these adventures and maybe find father. Cyrus was the hero, I wanted to become one like him. I will find a way to prove my worthiness.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Beyond the imagination.

"You are in big trouble young snake!" Mother shouted at me. "You do not sneak out with your brother at night! Its dangerous out there, you could have got eaten alive! What if you tripped over and broke your leg? How are you going to get help? You could have gotten you and your brother killed!"

"'I'll just ask Cyrus to carry me back." I mumbled, with my face pointed at the dirt to hide a frown.

The three us were under a tree, I was hiding from the sun.

"Mum, I think you should take it easy on Matthew." Cyrus joined in, defending me. "He is still young, he doesn't know any better. I don't see how yelling at him works."

"Stay out of this Cyrus!" She snapped.

"Mum, I should be the one being yelled at. I wasn't a good brother, I placed Matthew in danger." He interrupted, walking in front of mother, in-between us. I gripped onto Cyrus's black flipper like tail tightly.

"...You sound just like your old man." Mother sighed. "Always standing up for others, placing yourself in other people's shoes, being the 'goody two shoes'."

"Dad always wanted the best for me, the best for us." Cyrus said. "I don't want any arguments, any hate between the three of us."

Mother lowered her head and gently coiled around us.

"So do I. I want the best for you two." She finished, kissing both of us on the forehead then stared at me. "Don't ever sneak out again. I'll go collect some berries with your brother, we will be back by afternoon."

Even though I did deserve being yelled at, Cyrus keeps on saving my ass. Soon, mother and Cyrus were gone, and I found myself sitting under the tree waiting for the day to pass. For the first few hours I fiddled around with the wooden flute that Cyrus had given me, blowing around to figure out which keys made which sounds. I didn't clean the flute, it seemed clean enough for me to play. Another few hours went by and I found myself able to play a simple loop. Some nearby children (Pokemon) followed the sound to its source and when they saw me, their face filled up with disappointment.

"Look! It's a seaweed." They all jested. Calling crossbreeds like me seaweed is a form of discrimination. Sea being ocean like colour, and weed being a "mistake"... the unwanted filth that grows whether you like it or not. The term also refers to my parents. My skin colour is a very light shade of green, almost cyan. I sometimes get mistaken as a shiny. I may be a crossbreed between Serperior and Samurott but that doesn't we are..."special", Cyrus doesn't have vine wipes and I don't have scalchops, simple as that. Making friends with my conditions were impossible, I try not to think about it, suicide was always an option. Cyrus was never discriminated, he would beat up the people who do.

I spent the rest of the morning doing exercises such as sit ups. As I was doing my exercise the clouds turned grey and covered up the sun and when noon came it started to shower/rain. My face lit up with a smile when I saw the small drops of water splatter onto the dirt. When it rains I would find myself in the happiest moments, no longer do I have to stay hidden in the shadows when the clouds cover the sun. The rain wasn't cold, it felt warm compared to the prison cell called loneliness, because each drop was filled... with life. I ran into the open and lay down in the mud, l let the raindrops hit my body and run down the sides. As I lay on the ground enjoying the peaceful moment I heard a scream.

"Help!" The male voice yelled.

At first I ignored it, thinking that my mind was playing tricks on me.

"Help!" The voice scream again.

I decided to get up and check around and that's when I found a man stuck under a pile of rocks and mud. He wore a drenched leather coat, some sort of brown pants and had this long wood and metal tool strapped to his back. The man had everything below his waist trapped under the rocks and mud, probably a landslide.

"Please. Help me." He begged, reaching his hand out towards me.

Mum told me to stay away from humans, especially if they are stranger. I turned around to leave but then, a single thought kicked in. A thought turned into ambition, and it grew.

"Here's your chance to become a hero like your brother." My head whispered to me.

I felt pity for the man, I didn't want to leave him there to die slowly. He doesn't deserve it, no one likes dying alone. It was also another reason for me to help the guy.

The mud looked soft enough for me to tug him out. I latched my vines around his arms and pulled him out with a powerful tug.

"I owe you one." The man panted, pulling himself off the ground.

"Snivy!" I smiled, obviously the human isn't able to understand a single word I'm saying. I wanted to stay longer to talk to this man but the rain had stopped, I had to run back to the tree before the sun takes its toll.

"Wait I haven't…" The man said as I ran off into the distance.

That was the first time I saved a life, I was proud of my actions. To be the hero, to be the saviour, that's all that was going through my head. To be better than my brother!

But when I was faced with reality, my fatal flaw had been revealed. My fantasy was to become a hero, someone my brother could look up to. But no, the dust of this earth swept through, and my dream became a barren wasteland. Saving that mans life, grinded my innocent life to dust...

That night, I awoke to the pounding of the rain splashing all around me, the earth roared in pain, and melted away in its muddy blood. There was the sound of thunder, but no lightning could be seen. The wind was so powerful, I could hear the cracking of a thousand sticks all around me, leaves flying out everywhere in the storm.

Bang! The sound echoed through the forest, roaring louder than the storm. Bang! Bang! There was a rustling of leaves behind me, I looked back only to see my mother wide awake.

"…take Matthew and run." I heard my mother say. I opened my eyes only to find myself around Cyrus's neck. His fur drenched with rain water, the pounding of my heart racing even faster than the drops of rain that repeatedly hit Cyrus's fur. The rain forced his fur to crest down. I had the sheath tied around my back.

"What about you mother? What is happening?" Cyrus asked, the rain masking his desperate gasps for air. His eyes darting from side to side, almost like he was expecting to see more of us running this way. But there was nothing... only the screams of creatures calling through the wilderness. And the look in his eyes, the genuine look of fear, the fear that made even me feel his blood boiling in full panic. Bang! Bang! Bang! Some Pokémon were rushing through. Bang! Bang! Each shot was repeatedly followed by a thud, flesh hung here and there... as the blood mixed in with the rain.

"I'll distract them." Mother replied. "Now go!"

And those were the last words I heard her say.

"Mum?" I queried, not knowing what to make of the situation. I kicked, punched, screamed and struggling all so that I could just to get back to her. Mother's shadow got smaller and smaller, every step that Cyrus took... was a step away from my life...

"What is happening? I want to know! I want to know! I want to know!" I repeatedly tugged on Cyrus's fur, tears streaming from my eyes. It rained so heavily that the rain started to sting, the cold biting into every part of my body.

"Do you want to know? Do you really want to know? You want to know don't you? Well I'll tell you... they are all fucking dead. They are all dead! They are all dead, like insects... they are getting crushed like fucking insects. Every one of them getting skinned, burned, cooked and eaten!" Screamed Cyrus, the tears all gone.

"What do you mean? What do you..." I asked before getting grabbed by the shoulder.

"They are dead. They're dead, they're dead, they're dead, they're dead, they're dead, they're dead, they're dead, they're dead... right?" It was almost like he was reassuring himself that it hadn't happened, and yet he knew that it would definitely happen.

The sound of thunder continued to echo, then we heard a blood curdling scream, we knew that it had come. Mother's scream rippled throughout the forest, sending a chill down our spines. Cyrus paused, his tears were pouring down like the rain, clenching his teeth. He unwrapped me from his neck and placed me down in a puddle, the water was nearly up to the underside of my belly.

His saddened face started to grin, then broaden into a smile. Then it was full blown laughter. "I... told you right..." He dropped to his knees, "I just wanted to say goodbye..." His maddening laughter echoed throughout the forest.

"I just want to say goodbye…don't get too much blood on your hands otherwise you'll be unable to wash it off, avoid killing out there." Cyrus stuttered while putting up a fake smile, unhooking one of his sharp scalchops and handed it to me. I gripped on his scalchop. "I want you to run as far away as possible, and to never look back. If you don't, mum and I won't love you anymore... be a good snake. I love you Matthew."

"We are you going?" I fretted. "I don't want you to leave. I'm scared. Please don't go... please."

"Don't be scared… go ahead, I'll catch up... I promise. We're going to find dad." Cyrus comforted, placing his cold paw on my cheeks, staring into my red fluorescent eyes. His eyes blinded with madness, and his mouth frothing a bit. "I'm going back to help-"

Bang!

I fell to the ground splashing the water around me, the sound left my ears ringing, I looked at Cyrus. There was a small hole in his chest, warm red blood poured out of his wound, dying all the blue fur below his chest red. He then dropped to his knees. Everything snapped into place, we were being hunted.

I started to feel dizzy, as I got onto my feet, where brother and I met eye to eye. My face went pale, I stared blankly into the eyes of my dying brother. I watched his warmth and soul vanish from his body, I hoped that it wasn't painful. There was total silence, Cyrus raised his paw and gently stroked my right cheek, a single tear running down his face. I too reached to stroke his cheeks for the very last time... I closed my eyes and continued to feel for his face. His paw slowly slid down my cheek, leaving a trail of blood. Thud... I opened them again, and there lay dead... my brother.

"Cyrus... brother? No-no." I cried, standing in front of him. "Wake up...please. Please wake up! Don't leave me, I don't want to be alone. I don't need dad... I need you. I want to stay with you, Cyrus. Cyrus…"

"Nooo!" I screamed. "Why can't I wake up from this nightmare! Please Cyrus, don't leave me alone!"

I screamed and screamed until my voice gave in, I cried so hard that I couldn't even tell if the drops of water were rain or tears.

A few metres behind him loomed a large shadow, the shadow of a man. I didn't want to look at the figure but my eyes were attracted to him, it was the same man I saved this morning. I saved a life only to have two taken away from me. The same leather coat, the same brown pair of pants, and the same wood and metal tool in his hands, the rifle. He was carrying something on his back, a long serpent figure with little streams of blood running down from its chest before dripping off its tail, it was mother. Her eyes no longer illuminated with bright orange, her eyes were cloudy white.

I stood there silent, frozen and scared. He raised the rifle at me, I stood still waiting for it to happen but it didn't. The man hoisted the firearm and started at me with his cold brown eyes, he recognised me.

"Snivy!" I screamed at him.

He stared at Cyrus's body then took a glance at mother, that turned on his light bulb.

"No…I-I didn't know they-" He said, realising what he had done. "I-I."

He started to walk towards me, I wanted to step backwards but I didn't want to leave Cyrus. The man got closer and closer, I clenched my fist and let out a final tear.

"Goodbye... I'll see you on the other side, Cyrus." I said, turning around and sprinting for my life.

'I lived only... to be with my family, to love them. My brother and my mother were my idols, my whole entire life. And now... I have no family. My soul... that is what he took... from me.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Beyond the darkness**

I ran through the forest night, the strong winds and leaves thrashed against my face. For once, I was scared of the dark; I was scared of the night. And I could find myself no longer, I was lost in my mind. The cold embrace of the rain was no longer there to comfort me. I ran and ran, I didn't want to look back because I was scared what I would find behind me. My little legs carried me through the endless woods, I wasn't sure how long I ran for. Eventually I tripped over the roots of a tree. I fell forward, landing on my face, splashing the mud, Cyrus's scalchop slipped out of my hand. I felt a significant amount of pain in my left hand.

"AHHH!" I screamed as I tried to get back up, drops of blood left small patches of red on my chest.

The rain continued to pour on me as laid in the open mud. 'What do I do now?' I thought to myself.

"I'm sorry... I don't know anymore. What can I do... I'm useless, and I always bring harm to others. I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I can't take it anymore. Say... mum, what should I do when I find dad? Should I help him? Should I leave him... I don't know." I muttered, eyes already dry from the crying.

I don't know how long I spent my time pondering the unimaginable things that I could do, and what I should do... to survive. Too many times, I arrived at the conclusion for murder. Too many times, I thought of exploiting the emotions of humanity, especially those that were innocent. Then I arrived at...

'Nothing will change... I'll just die. Nobody cares, nobody wants me. What do I want... death, war... I want everyone to feel the pain I felt. To be hunted... to have your entire family skinned and burned and eaten. They won't eat me, if they do... I'll bite them from the inside... burn them... eat their insides till they can't even digest the thought of their own deaths.'

"It's so fucking annoying... I'll kill them all." I screamed, and I kept on going until my voice gave way. And I started to cough out blood, I felt faint... and frustration.

As I finished, I saw Cyrus's scalchop, laying in the mud in front of me. The sharpened end of the shell flickered in the moon light. "My brothers weapon huh? In the end... he fared no better than I did... wanted to say goodbye to mother. In the end he died a useless shit like me." I said, letting out a load laugh. 'I wonder...' I reached for the scalchop, it called to me. It was begging me to do what was right, what I thought I needed to do. My heart said otherwise, but that would not stop me. I decide when I should stop, for there was nothing else worth fighting for...

"Cyrus... M-oth-er." I stuttered, raising the sharpened end of the scalchop to my neck. "I'm coming to join you. We will be together again, as a happy family. Then everything will be back to normal again. Yeah... that's what will happen..."

I took a deep breath, and pressed the scalchop firmly against my neck. There was nothing left to lose, there is no reason for me to continue on with the game of life.

"Ok... I'm ready for this." I muttered. I swallowed hard and took a final deep breath, it was silent, quick and peaceful. I wanted it to end this way and...that's when she came into my life.

"Hey seaweed!" A female voice yawned behind me.

My conscious kicked in, I sprung open my eyes and lowered the scalchop.

"Mum?" I gasped while turning around, awfully confused.

"Mum? No ones ya bloody mother, wanker." She said placing two of her white and black paws on my head.

She was an Emolga, black eyes, tiny nose, and yellow cheek patches, she is somewhat pretty. Her ears, positioned at the top of its head, are rounded in shape and black in coloration, with yellow and white sections of coloration on the inside of its ears. She sported a vaguely hood-like patterning of black around her head with a spiky extension of the pattern above its face. She had yellow winglike flaps connected to its three-fingered arms. Her black and white fur appears to be dry, she had sheltered herself from the rain. Judging by her appearance, she looked to be around 3 years older than me.

"What are you-" I asked before receiving a painful electric shock, I plummeted back into the mud dropping the scalchop.

"Life is a rare gift kid." The Emolga said, placing her foot on my head before snatching the scalchop off the ground. My face sunk into the mud. "You don't want to waste it."

"There is nothing left to waste, the others are the ones that did the wasting for me!" I cried, my tears sinking into the mud. "Please...I want to die. I don't to live want anymore!"

"Get your shit together, ya bastard. Please don't suicide in front of my house. It leaves a bad image..." She said, the little drops of rain dancing on her fur.

The feeling came back again. I felt sick, like my insides wanted to turn inside out.

"Mum and Cyrus..." I cried as she lifted her foot off my head.

She walked under a nearby tree. Above that tree was a large wooden structure with a window. The structure doesn't look natural, it was man made. She then proceeded to climb a vine that was wrapped around the tree to reach the structure.

She took Cyrus's shell, I wanted the shell back but... it was hopeless. I was beaten to the ground, both my body and my spirit were broken, I didn't want to live anymore. My legs stung when I tried to get up, the pouring rain did not make my life easier.

"Please kill me. Someone please kill me." I whispered before curling myself into a ball to keep warm, completely given up.

"Kid. Sleeping is already difficult enough with the storm going on outside. I don't need you crying, and then suiciding." She said, her head peaking out of the window. "Go back to your parents."

I started crying again, reminded of what happened a few minutes ago.

"Mother…they are gone." I whispered to myself.

"Ach! Wankers…Go back to where you came from." She muttered to herself before using a wooden board to shut the window.

'If I can't take my own life than I may as well let nature do the work for me, either the cold will kill me or the Mightyenas will' I thought to myself. I felt the temperature of my body drop, the cold numbed my body sending shivers down my spine. It felt like an ice bath. My shaking got more and more intense, and the world around me started to fade. Breaking away like clusters of sand. The hissing of the rain went silent, and soon I was alone in my endless slumber. I wanted it to end this way, to end it nice and peacefully.

* * *

"Wake up you parker!" The same female voice yelled, I was laying in some sort of bed. I felt two warm paws pressing on my chest, I didn't want to open my eyes as I still felt like dozing off. "Five more minutes..." I murmured

"AHHH!" I screamed after receiving another painful shock, snapping me awake.

"Bloody hell kid you're finally awake." the Emolga said.

I sat up in shock, confused to what was happening... or what was going to happen. All I had in mind was fear, frantic and impossible to describe... genuine fear. The Emolga sat in front of me, giving me a blank stare. My head swung left and right, trying to get a hold of the situation. But mostly to figure out whether I was alive or not.

We were in a wooden structure, four walls, one window and a trap door leading outside. The structure was made for humans. On the wall to my left, stood a small book shelf, it had around 12 books on it, and a candle on top to light up the room. In front of me, was a brown desk with three draws underneath it, on that desk was some neatly folded human clothing and a small firearm. Above the desk hung three bows, they were made for humans, giving me a chill down my spine. The bed I was sitting on had several large coats folded into neat piles. Behind me was the window, it was still night and the rain kept on raining relentlessly. Next to the window was a drying rack, it had several berries dangling on it, the berries were all brown and wrinkly.

I stared into the Emolga's large black eyes; but her eyes weren't cute like before, they looked intimidating; so I was scared to even move. I wasn't sure if I should've been scared. 'Was she going to eat me? If she wanted to I'd already be dead right?' Were the thoughts that were racing through my head.

"…Why did you bring me here?" I stuttered, I was still cold. "Are you going to eat me?"

"Well, I'm not going to just let you freeze to death kid. I like it better when my prey's flesh is warm." She joked.

"If you going to eat me, please make it fast." I encouraged, crawling out of the sheets and offering myself to her. I was still covered in mud and Cyrus dried blood.

"Of course I'm not going to eat you, ya wanker." The Emolga murmured, flicking my forehead.

"Ouch!...Then why did you save me?" I demand while rubbing my head.

"I'm not just gonna let you die at my doorstep am I? You bloody idiot." She said in annoyed tone.

I looked at my hands and body, they were bruised and covered in mud. The thing that really stood out was Cyrus's blood. His blood felt like a scar, reminding me of the horrors that had happened. The scene of Cyrus getting shot was stuck in my head, his blood exploded out of him. He didn't scream, but he was still alive for a few seconds after being shot, I didn't want to think about the pain he had experienced. I wanted to forget what happened to Cyrus... but I couldn't, I couldn't just throw him away. I needed to remind myself of the reality I lived in.

"Cyrus…" I whispered, my eyes tearing up again. I tucked myself back into the bed sheets.

"My God kid, would ya stop crying for flipping sake!" The Emolga growled. "Where are your bloody parents."

"They're…dead!" I cried, the tears letting loose again. "They're all gone! Mum I'm sorry!"

It was the feeling of guilt and helplessness that made me cry, I could have done something but I stood there and watched them die.

"Huh…that explains the loud banging sounds. Human hunters." She observed calmly.

"I don't want to bother you too much." I started, pulling myself out of the sheets. Some tears were running down my cheeks. The bruises on my legs didn't make movement easy. "I should probably leave."

"Kid. Sit the fuck back down." She commanded. "If I let you get out that trap door, you're just going find ways to kill yourself. I don't want that happening. You're staying with me."

I obeyed her orders and sat back down. Did she offer me a home? Or did she offer to keep me in probable little rape dungeon? I wanted to be grateful that I now had someone who cared for me, but at the same time I didn't. I needed to be sure that her heart was really in the right place.

"Why? Why are doing this?" I asked. "Why are letting me stay with you? How long will I have to stay? What are going to do to me?"

"You're staying with me until you are old enough to take care of yourself. I'd rather see you die as a Serperior than a Snivy." She replied. "Besides, I could use an assistant, you know... a companion. It gets quite lonely when your living by yourself, I need a friend and you need a home. To be honest, I kinda feel bad for you. Plus it's a win, win situation for me."

I was astonished, the Emolga was the first creature who didn't actively discriminate me, she was concerned with my wellbeing. She gave me a reason, a reason that made me want to continue life. This was the best thing that happened today, not only have I gained my first friend, I have someone who shows me sympathy. When things went south, she gave me another chance. I felt tears of joy flowing up, but I held them back as my crying pisses her off.

"I-I don't know how to thank you. I don't even know your name.."

"The name is Lachesis." She smiled.

"My name is Matthew." I replied, I was so happy that I found someone that cared for me. Still sitting in the bed, I opened my arms and leaned in to hug her.

"No!" Lachesis snapped, swatting away both of my arms and my body. "Go clean yourself up ya wanker."

I looked down at my body and hands, they were covered in mud and Cyrus dried blood.

Don't get too much blood on your hands.

"Here." Lachesis said, pushing out a wooden bucket filled with clean water behind the desk. The bucket was almost as tall as her. She then opened the lowest draw and pulled out a small grey rag.

"Catch." She said, throwing me the piece of cloth before pointing at the bucket. The rag landed on my face. "Go wash yourself up. Don't worry kid, there ain't any funny business going on around here."

I stood up and walked over to the bucket, I peered over the buckets edge and saw my reflection. The water was like a mirror, bouncing back and revealing the most intricate details. A mirror always tells the truth. I stared at my reflection, across my cheeks were three red lines that Cyrus's paw had painted. Those last gentle strokes across my cheeks left their bloody trails, what was left of him were his blood and scalchop.

"I guess…" I sighed, dipping the rag into the bucket before raising the cloth to my cheeks. "Cyrus, this is the last goodbye."

As I finished, with one swift move I wiped the blood on my cheeks. Never again shall I have the blood of my loved ones spilled on me. I shall never make the same mistake again.

'They are all dead because of me. Why did I save that human? Why am I still alive? Humans…it was all their fault. They shall pay for what they've done.'


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Friends and Beyond**

"You have got to be joking." Lachesis sighed right before face-palming. "You're scared of the bloody sun!"

"…yes." I replied, sitting as far from the window as possible.

"Why!" She snapped. "Why are you such a fucking coward! Why are you so useless! Don't your species need the sun for energy!"

To me, I cannot use the sun for photosynthesis. I heavily depend on food to provide me the necessary nutrients, that's one reason why my skin colour is light green.

As Lachesis finished her sentence, she grabbed me by the tail and dragged me towards the window.

"No!" I screamed, grabbing onto one of the tables legs. "It burns when I go outside!"

She tugged harder, trying to make me let go. Her tugs were strong, if this tug of war goes on any longer I will lose, so I uncoiled both of my vines and swiped her hands off my tail.

"You little brat!" Lachesis muttered while rubbing her paws, some electric sparks sizzled out from her yellow cheeks.

Seeing that I've aggravated Lachesis, I quickly ducked behind the desk and curled myself into a ball.

Scared, I hid under desk, I felt a iron grip on my tail. And all of a sudden with a mighty tug, I was pulled out. She then grabbed me by the wrist, and dragged me to the window.

"No! No! No! No! It burns! I don't want to! Let me go!" I yelped, my intense efforts to break loose only made me go crazy while squirming about.

I then reached out and bit her leg, and the taste of blood gushed into my mouth. It wasn't a deep bite, just a small scratch.

"Ahhhh! You little brat!" She then reached down and pinched me on the back of the neck.

I immediately went limp, there was blood dripping from my mouth. She then brought me all the way to the window. I winced from the blinding light, but I couldn't feel anything else.

"There you have it... now I'm going to let go of your nape now." She said calmly, sitting me on the window sill, before letting go.

As soon as her paws left my neck, an intense burning sensation overwhelmed my entire body.

"Hot! Burning! Let me back in! Pull me in!" I cried, desperately trying to get out of the sun's rays. And within a heartbeat, I was pulled back in.

"You really are useless... if you don't learn how to get a hold of yourself, everyone is going to laugh at you. And I just wouldn't mind joining in with them." Lachesis said with a grimace. She then smiled and kneeled down, only to begin stroking my chin. "Or would you rather prefer, I convince you to do it. A little encouragement would help right?" Slowly etching forward until she lay right on top of me. "My advice... get your shit together." She said before slapping across the face.

I was surprised, I had never been slapped before. The stinging pain spread across my cheek, my face started to feel numb. I felt frustrated that I was afraid of the sun, I hated myself for it. I hated being different.

She got up, and then jumped onto the desk. She then pulled out a large looking pistol.

"Kid." Lachesis started, throwing the small firearm and a different coloured rag off the desk and onto the ground. The firearm hit the floor with a 'plonk', and a blue rag floated it's way down, the two objects landed in front of me. "Make yourself useful and clean the gun. When I come back I better see my beautiful face on that gun."

"Come back? Where are you going? How long will you be gone for? What do you mean by fuck up?" I said, a little worried about what she would do. My muscles tensed, the air seemed a hell of a lot colder. The wooden floorboards creaked and moaned, the wind brushing past my face.

"You'll see..." she said with a wink. She then climbed out the window, and then began leaping from tree to tree. Her swift movements perfected probably by her previous experiences. And before I knew it, I had already lost sight of her.

I wasn't sure where she was going or what she was doing, but it was definitely better than what I was doing.

"May as well get started." I sighed, picking up the rag and the firearm. The fire arm irradiated fear into my mind, it was a weapon that had killed Cyrus and mother. Their lives were taken in an instant, and all it took was one shot. My mind replaced the fear with anger as I stared at the gun, it was a weapon of destruction that wouldn't hesitate to kill. I gripped the handle in anger, I wanted to break it but... Lachesis would probably break me.

I sighed, holding back the urge to smash it into pieces.

After a few minutes of intense polishing, I was finally satisfied with how the pistol looked. I then took my time to examine the device.

The fire arm was tiny compared to a rifle. It had a smooth wooden grip, a black integral box magazine in front of the trigger with a long black barrel. The pistol was too big for my hands but it was still usable. Everywhere else besides the grip was painted black, written on the grip was a small white text.

"Mauser C96" It read.

'What an amazing piece of technology...' I thought.

'Then again, there's nothing good about a gun. All it does is kill, and kill. Cleaving flesh from bone, the fibers that tear off just from the impact. I've seen it up close... what a gun can do...' The thought kept on going through my head, 'death, death, death, death... that is what is achieved... the self destruction of the masterpiece called life shattered by something created by some fucked up human mind.'

Rage quickly consumed my mind, and I stared at the pistol with so much hate... I felt like breaking it. 'it's horrible, it's evil... such things should not be allowed to exist in this world.' The thoughts kept on reverberating in my head, I could not get rid of it... nor did I want to.

Suddenly my mind kicked in. 'Wait...it doesn't matter if the gun is used for evil or not. What matters, is the person who wields the weapon. The one at fault... is the very world. Plus if I broke this weapon, Lachesis would probably break me. That seems most probable...' my philosophical argument with the voice only brought a smile to my face.

Since I finished polishing the gun, I walked over to the opposite side of the room and started poking around, while poking around with the books I found myself staring at a black and white photo. In the image, was Lachesis sitting on a young mans shoulder. Both of them were on a large ship, massive cannons loomed over them, you couldn't even see the sun. They both wore white uniforms, the man held an innumerable amount of medals and ribbons. While Lachesis only had two.

"Lachesis used to have a trainer? A Pokemon with a personality like that could never be tamed... unless..." I was then interrupted by a strange taste in my mouth.

'What is it that I can taste in my mouth right now?' Suddenly I remembered that I had bitten Lachesis's leg. I quickly ran over to the window, spitting out all the blood in my mouth. For a few moments, everything was calm, a breeze of wind that caressed my very warmth... mixing up the emotions inside of me. I immediately got back in, as soon as I realized my back was burning like crazy.

"What the heck? Is it raining blood today? It's all over me..." A strange deep voice announced below. "But then again, check out this treehouse. It looks amazing. Hey should we go inside?"

"Yeah we totally should! It's not like we're gonna get caught or anything, looks pretty much abandoned. Hey! We should totally make this our secret base." Another voice declared.

It was followed by the murmuring of three other voices, as they quickly agreed.

"True, we like never get caught..." The other voice whispered.

One of the voices was beautiful, and elegant. It seemed enchanting, it was almost like she was singing. 'It can't be a male... no guy could have a voice so beautiful.' I thought.

I was as silent as a grave, when it came to listening in on their conversation. "They're gonna come up here. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck... what should I do? Is Lachesis gonna kill me? I don't fucking know... what if they find out I was spitting blood all over that guy? Fuck I am so dead! What does fuck even mean? I only hear it when people are angry. Is it normal to use that word? Am I old enough to use it?" I mumbled, walking back and forth... not knowing what to do.

Before I knew it, I could already hear the creaking of the trap door. I watched slowly, as the numerous paws climbed up one after another. Almost instantly, they all had their attention directed at me. 'So there were four Pokemon, a Buizel, a Treecko, a Chimchar and a... who's the last one?'. For a while there was nothing but silence between the five of us. Most of them, were examining me, sizing me up on what I was. 'The Buizel was probably the one with a deep voice, judging from the a blood splat on his forehead. The Treecko and the Chimchar were the other two, they looked like males. So the last one must be the one with the amazing voice... but what is she?' I thought to myself.

The last Pokemon revealed herself. My eyes, could not believe what they were seeing. It was a Snivy, her presence almost warmed up the entire room. Her skin a light emerald color, with pink eyes that could stare into your soul. A golden row of scales that ran down her back, all the way to the end of her tail. Her posture a proud one, with elegant curves that showed off her feminine form. I was almost blinded by her beauty, the only comparison that I could make to her, was of an angel.

"Would you look at that... a cute little seaweed." She said, instantly breaking the silence. "Well that's something you don't see every day. What do you guys think?"

"I think it's safe to assume where exactly the blood came from. C'mon salad wrap, get over here so I can teach you a private lesson!" The Buizel shouted, leaping forward and grabbed me by the tail. He then lifted me up and held me upside down. "I went fishing, and all I caught was this cute looking seaweed. I just want to tear him apart!"

The other three laughed. All of a sudden, it felt like I was in that place again. Feeling helpless, that I could not even save my brother... that I could not save myself. Anger and frustration once again filled my mind, I gritted my teeth... but all that frustration turned into desperation. And in a few seconds, I was bursting into tears.

There was the sound of a box dropping to the ground. Everyone stared at that direction, and there she was... my salvation. Lachesis simply stood there, sparks of electricity came flying out from her cheeks. There at her feet, was the metal box we had all heard falling to the floor.

"You all four of you kindly piss off." Her eyes blank of emotion. This time, she seemed ten times as intimidating then before. It was a mad, blind and bloodthirsty stench that filled the atmosphere with her approach.

"Oh shit... it's Lachesis, let's get out of here!" The Chimchar said already bolting for the trap door.

"C'mon man let's get out of here!" Said the Treecko while gesturing for the Buizel to follow suit.

"Why? This bitch thinks she's so tough... keeping all this to herself. And then she invites this seaweed to her treehouse? All this time, all I've felt like doing to her... is beating her brains out! It's great... that you cowardly fucks, aren't gonna stop me this time." He chirped, a thrilled look on his face. He instantly released me from his clutches.

I landed with a thud, and the whole house shook from the fall. Lachesis, stood her ground. "I wonder. I'm not sure whether I should break his cold heart dead, till he despair. Or whether I should maim him beyond repair." She said with a smile, licking her lips with anticipation.

"Should we take this outside your bitchiness?" The buizel taunted, unwavered by her comments.

"By all means... I hope it isn't raining, Buizel parts. Oh wait, there's a hundred percent chance of that happening." She laughed.

The six of us went outside. Lachesis never turned her back on the Buizel, and the Buizel... likewise. The rest of us, including me... rushed behind the trees in case anything went to hell.

The two of them, were four meters apart. Neither of them moved a muscle. They just stared at each other. The Buizel's fists were in the ready, while Lachesis relaxed her ears and brought them to her sides.

"What are they doing?" I asked the Chimchar, confused at the lack of action. He ignored me.

The two forces stood in front each other, any sudden movements can cause a battle to take place. We were sitting under the tree house.

"You're fucked!" The Buizel screamed, leaping back before shooting a powerful stream of water out his mouth.

Lachesis saw the incoming attack and dodged out of its way, before the Buizel could recover from his attack, Lachesis leaped herself at him in an attempt to land a quick attack. The Buizel blocked his chest with both of his arms, blocking Lachesis's headbutt. Before she could land, the Buizel striked back with a powerful punch before following up with another water gun. His attack juggled Lachesis across the grass before hitting a tree.

The Treecko, Chimchar and the Snivy all cheered, I remained frozen, silent and scared.

This battle had me sitting on the edge of my seat, I desperately wanted to help but that desperation was once again destroyed by fear. The Treecko, Chimchar, Snivy stopped my courage, the sun drew its boarders for me, fear dictated my thoughts and actions. All I could do was hope and prey.

"God damit!" Lachesis coughed, trying to pull herself up off the ground. The beads of water dripped past her wound and bruises before hitting the dirt, my beads of sweat dripped down my neck. She placed a paw on the wound on her around waist to eeze the bleeding and pain.

"You know..." Lachesis giggled as the Buizel walked towards her to claim his victory. "You water gun reminded me of the 50 caliber mark 7. It's pretty hard to aim the dam thing but packs a huge punch if it hits the enemy ship.

"So...do you admit defeat?" The Buizel smiled. He stood directly in front of Lachesis with his arms crossed.

"Unfortunately for you..." She replied, standing up. "I was told at a young age that accepting defeat is never an answer."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

Suddenly, without warning, the Buizel grabbed onto Lachesis's neck and lifted her off her feet.

"Let me...g-g-." Lachesis gagged.

"You're going to regret your decision." He said, tightening his grip.

I watched Lachesis struggle and gag as he continued to choke her, I clenched my fist in an attempt to convince myself to help her but...

Lachesis started to yelp and scream a little but not once did she beg for mercy. My heart pounded on my chest like a set of war drums, my calm breaths were now violent. Her gags for air became more frequent before slowing down to a nerve wracking halt. She is now on the edge of death.

I closed my eyes, I don't want to see another Pokemon die in front of me. When I thought she was dead, she made a final yelp.

"You...idiot." Lachesis yelped. Suddenly both of them were set ablaze in a yellow blizzard of electricity. The Buizel broke the choke hold but Lachesis still grabbed onto him, letting all the electrons sink in. I watched as Lachesis shocked the Buizel onto the ground, he let out a few desperate screams before fainting.

There was total silence, that signalled the end of the fight. The Snivy, Chimchar and Treecko all have frightened faces. Clearly surprised that Lachesis won.

"Would you look-k at that." Lachesis coughed, there were still some sparks popping out from her cheeks. "Now…get out of my sight!"

The Snivy, Treecko and Chimchar swiftly jumped up and obeyed her orders. They quickly lifted up the fainted Buizel and ran into the tall grass.

"Are you all right?" Lachesis asked, before I rushed in and gave her a huge bear hug. "Well you seem happy to see me." Her smile bringing warmth to my heart.

"Those freaks didn't do anything too weird to you right?" A concerned look starting to grow on her face.

"Where were you..." I asked, ignoring her question. My eyes tearing up. The feeling of helplessness and constantly having to rely on others made me want to cry. "I don't want you to leave. I don't want to be alone."

"I just went to get something... but don't worry... I won't ever let you out of my sight."

"You idiot!" I yelled, tears leaking from my eyes. Her fur getting wet from my tears. "You're just like my brother! Always leaving me alone! Don't just leave me like that, it scares me..."

"C'mon now... you can't stay with boring old me forever. You have to move on in life." She said, her expression as calm as ever. The blood leaking out from her waist dyed her abdominal area and legs crimson red.

"I don't want to leave you." I mumbled, sniffing a bit.

"What was that?"

"I said I don't want to leave you!" Saying it louder this time. "I don't find you boring. You're really nice, even if you scream and shout like that. And... you're really pretty..."

The both of us were silent for a few seconds, "You cute little monster..." She whispered, reaching to stroke my cheeks. Her paws soaking up most of the tears. Her eyes made me blush a little. "I know what it feels like, to lose a very special person, I've been there too."

We stayed like that for a while, it was mainly just me crying... and Lachesis trying to calm me down.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice still shaking. Some blood was still pouring out from her waist.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it, just a flesh wound...Crap, it's definitely gonna leave a mark."

"What's in the metal box?" I questioned.

"You'll see."

 _Even though we only met last night, I was beginning to like her._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Beyond my strength**

"My legs hurt." I groaned, trying to keep up with Lachesis. "Where are we going?"

From my back hung the flute, I keep it with me all the time.

"Stop complaining." Lachesis muttered, she was carrying the green metal box.

The red sun, scorched and drowned the horizon below. Tinting the white clouds golden. Soon, the bug Pokémon of the forest started playing their tunes. Some looking for a snack, others looking for a mate. But they weren't the only ones making noises. Echoes of the Mightyena's howls could be heard from a mile away, it wasn't a pleasant sound. Those Mightyenas come out every night, sinking their razor shape teeth into anything they could eat. Of course, I never encountered any before... but I knew they were a huge threat (other than humans).

"L-Lachesis?" I fretted after hearing a howl, staying behind her as close as possible. "It's getting dark a-and the Mightyenas...their howl's seem very...close."

Lachesis stopped dead in her tracks, I bumped into her.

"What are you doing?" I asked, tapping her on the shoulder. She didn't reply, she just swatted my hand away and stood still in silence.

Then, another howl echoed through the forest.

"Yes, you're right." Lachesis said, breaking the silence. "The Mightyenas. They are a little too close for comfort."

She turned around and dropped the metal box in front me. The box hit the ground with a thump.

Lachesis unhooked the hinges, and lifted the lid. I peered over the box's edge, it had a shiny interior. Inside was Lachesis's Mauser, two small cardboard boxes, some neatly packed slices of bread, a large roll of paper with black text written all over it, three tiny glass bottles and one large glass bottle filled with some sort of "blackish brown" liquid.

My mind instantly riddled with questions. But the uncomfortable feeling of havoc, loomed all around us.

 _What's that brown liquid in the large bottle? What was in the small bottles? What's in the small cardboard boxes?_

I was about to ask these questions, Lachesis reached in and pulled out one of the cardboard boxes. She hesitated, before tearing it apart. The small cardboard box contained four columns of metal strips, each metal strip had five brass oval shaped items attached to them.

She then picked up the Mauser and attached the strip above the Mauser's internal box magazine.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pointing at the metal strip, confused.

"I'm adding the 'L' to 'ethal' just in case those Mightyenas get too close." Lachesis replied before pushing all of the oval shaped items off the strip and into the gun.

She then detached the now empty strip off the internal box magazine before throwing it away.

"Let's keep on moving." Lachesis said, closing the lid. She then tossed the box into my arms.

As soon as the box fell into my arms, my legs and body immediately responded with a 'nope'.

"How did Lachesis mange to carry this?" I thought, my legs started to shake.

"You okay?" She asked, watching me struggle.

"Yeah." I gasped. "I-I'm fine."

 _This is going to be a long walk through the forest._

* * *

"Are we there yet?" I groaned. My legs, arms and hands felt like they were on fire. _I made a mistake! I made a mistake! I hate my mistake! Should of said it wasn't fine. I feel like my arms are going to break off!_

"Are we there yet?" I asked, my arms shaking uncontrollably.

"No. But... you look like you're shaking like a shitting dog." Lachesis answered bluntly.

"…Are we there yet?" I asked, ignoring her comment.

"No..."

"...Are we there yet?"

"NO!"

"...Are we-"

Lachesis turned around and pressed her nose on mine, her eyes were filled with fire, melting my mind. Some electric sparks were flying out here cheeks, I felt like I was shrinking under her rage. This was fear to a whole new level.

"I swear to Arceus! I'll snap a fucking tree in half if you ask me the same question again!" She yelled, her electricity could explode at any second.

That managed to shut me up for a few minutes.

"So...Lachesis." I started. "Have we arrived at our destination yet?"

Lachesis sighed.

"Yes...we have arrived."

I peered over her shoulder in excitement, because I had no idea where she had taken me. We were in an opening of the forest, in the middle was a rather tiny pond. Next to the pond was this "rusted metal beast". The beast was completely made of metal. It had five wheels on each side, all linked up by chain belt and it also has a small cannon on the top. It'd probably been sitting around this pond for a while, vines and weeds had grown all over it.

"Wow!" I gasped, admiring the view. I dropped the box and the flute before running towards the pond. "Look Lachesis! You could see the moons reflection perfectly in the water."

The water was crystal clear, the pond had a gravel base. It wasn't deep either, the deepest part would've probably been up to my neck.

I jumped into the pond, making a slash.

"The water." I said, taking a sip. "It tastes sweet."

"The water is sweet." Lachesis hinted. I wasn't sure what she was trying to convey. "Clearly you don't yet deserve to drink it. We are not here to take a bath..." She muttered, going into the pond herself before dragging me out. "...we are here to train."

"Train?-" I asked, the water dripping off our bodies. I was then distracted by something. Lachesis looked a little different.

The water had revealed her smooth curves, the fur had been padded down, her slim figure up close to my face. The water had left her gasping from the effort, she was now face to face with me. Streaks of water ran down her chest, her face a little like that of how she would look when aroused. With the fur down, her majestic figure left me blushing. She had honey sweet lips. They looked lilac soft.

"We are here to train. You can't always rely on me. You have to learn how to fight." Lachesis said, placing one of her paws on my shoulder. I couldn't help but stare at her, especially her chest.

"I don't expect you to know or learn Growth, Wrap or anything-" Lachesis paused, staring at my cheeks with a questionable expression.

"Are-are you blushing?" She asked, making a confused face.

I stayed silent, still trying to avoid looking at her graceful body. If only her eyes were currently as pleasant as her body. She then straightened herself before saying, "What's up with you?" She then puffed her chest out and stretched, before letting out a massive groan. 'Mmmmppphhhhh!' I was now blushing furiously, brighter than the sun.

Lachesis stared at me again than looked down at her own body.

"...I see what's going on." She laughed, shacking her head.

"Well guess what?" Lachesis smiled, pinching my cheeks hard. "You not going to get them. We're here to train, not to take a bath or make love."

As she finished her sentence she gave me a quick and powerful slap, knocking me out of my fantasies. And the pain left on my face, marked the beginning of our training. "So...don't be a fucking idiot."

* * *

The first training session with Lachesis was hell itself. Not only did I have to walk half way across the forest, she made me do it in the middle of the night. Most of her "training" was forcing me to do impossible exercises. I was completely exhausted after the "warm-up", laying on the dirt gasping and panting. I was on the edge of giving up but I still urged my body to push on. Her training was like my feelings, the more you practise... the stronger you get, you just need to push past the sour to get to the sweet.

First I was to run fifteen kilometres, non stop. She then ordered me, to do a bare minimum of one hundred and fifty push ups. I couldn't even run 1 kilometre before collapsing in a heap; and don't get me started on the push ups.

Lachesis then tried to teach me how to use my vine wipes properly, but at the end of our first training session... I found myself tangled in my own vines.

"Help!" I yelled, rolling around trying to untangle myself.

Lachesis didn't look pleased, she looked disappointed and pissed as ever. She was hoping to squeeze some "power" out of me... but the conclusion was unrewarding.

"You're hopeless kid." Lachesis sighed, knowing how useless I really was. "Go clean yourself up."

After telling me to go clean up she proceeded to walk to the rusted metal beast.

At the end of our first training session, I was basically dead. Tangled, sweating and covered in dirt while Lachesis remained "untouched".

"Where are you going?" I asked, struggling to untangle myself.

"Once you're done cleaning up come and meet me by the tank." She replied bluntly, pointing at the metal beast. I could tell that she was holding back her rage, anything could make her explode right now.

"Tank? So that's what it's called." I thought. "I wonder what it's used for?"

It took a decent amount of time for me to untangle and clean myself up. Before I knew it, I was walking over to the tank like Lachesis had asked me to. She was sitting on top of the tank, munching on a piece bread. She was leaning against the metal box, my flute was on the box. Sitting next to her was the large glass bottle filled with the brown liquid, the bottle's height was up to her chest.

"How did you get up there?" I asked, attempting to climb the brown metal tracks. "Can you help me?"

"Climb the vines on the back." She said with her mouth full. "Try not cut yourself on the rust."

I walked to the back of the tank, and climbed the vines until I reached Lachesis. I sat down next to her, I knew she wasn't in the best mood tonight... mostly because our training went terribly. She was trying to get me to toughen up but all she manged to do was waste her time on a Snivy. She also wasn't happy that I saw her private parts. No one likes wasting their time, I just wanted to make Lachesis smile. I wanted to show that I'm grateful that she is here for me. But the only thing I could give her was my words and I'm not really the type of snake who is good with words.

"I'm sorry about earlier." I apologised, blushing in embarrassment.

"Don't take it too personally." She mumbled, picking up the bottle before chugging a mouth full. "We'll keep on training until we get a result, everyone has their own first stepping stone."

"No..." I moaned before hesitating, I opened my mouth to speak again, it took a while for me to get the words out. "I mean...sorry that I looked at your-"

"Don't worry kid." Lachesis hiccupped, probably because of that brown liquid. "I really don't give two shits. After all, we're friends and friends forgive each other. Well... most of the time."

I was surprised by her response, she wasn't joking when she said we were friends. She could find forgiveness in the darkest corners, that's what I like about her. It reminded me of my brother.

"I-I-" I said, then my stomach interrupted me with a roar.

"You hungry?" Lachesis asked, offering me a slice of bread. "Here. Have it."

We sat on the tank, eating bread while looking up at the stars. It was a silent and peaceful moment. The only sounds were Bug Pokémon humming in beat with the exhales of our breaths. Bread wasn't the most tastiest food, but it was filling.

"You wanna try some?" Lachesis offered, picking up the bottle with both of her hands.

"Sure." I hesitated, then grabbed a hold of the glass bottle. There was no way Lachesis could finish the entire bottle herself, I guess that was the reason why she was sharing.

Closer inspection of the brown liquid, it had small bubbles forming in the liquid before rising up and disappearing.

"What is this?" I whispered, lost in my thoughts.

"The humans call it Poke-a-cola. I stole these supplies from, merchants, traders, hunters and occasionally post men."

I lifted the bottle to my mouth and took a sip. My mouth was a exposed with sweetness, it was sweeter than any berry I've tasted... and that's not a good thing. Usually, I do like sweet things, but this cola was like a sea of unpleasant sugar in my mouth. The situation was critical in my mouth, when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the bubbles came into play. The sea of sugar was now dominated by the bubbles, it felt like having a mouth full of Combees buzzing around inside.

My mouth couldn't handle this torture anymore, I was about to spit it out but I stopped myself. I then realised the fruitless efforts, of running away from the things that can't hurt. 'What a fucking liberty...'

I took a deep breath, then finally forced it down.

"H-humans drink this s-s-stuff?!" I gagged and coughed.

"It has a kick to it, doesn't it?" Lachesis laughed. She then continued by saying. "It always tastes strange the first time."

"You enjoy this drink?!" I exclaimed, handing the bottle back to her. "Water tastes better than that!"

"Learn to enjoy the things you hate, kid." Lachesis yawned, lying down on the tank with her face pointing at the stars. "It'll make your life more tolerable, we've got a long road ahead up us."

And so the days went by. Days turned into nights, nights turned into weeks, weeks turned into months... and months slipped into the years. During the day I would mostly sleep in, but during the night... my adventures with Lachesis continued over and over again. We would train together each night, watch the stars together, collect berries together and sometimes steal resources from the humans. She took me to places that I'd never even seen before. Waterfalls as powerful as giants, caves that lead to the centre of the earth... and cliffs that overtook the white puffy clouds. Sometimes Lachesis would teach me how to shoot her firearm, other times we would get shoot at by the humans who caught us stealing their things. As long as you don't stand still, you won't get hit.

As our days go by, I had grown used to the angry remarks that Lachesis had forced down my throat. By now, she was more than a friend to me. She was my saviour, guardian and trainer. I barely found the time to play my flute, but it was something that I would always go back to.

I was now having adventures of my own. Like I always wished I could when I was younger. I missed Cyrus and mother more than ever, the days went by... and the more I thought about it, the colder I was... it wasn't rage, it was simply... the real me. I missed the times I spent with Cyrus, I missed the feeling of motherly love. They remain in my heart, but sometimes they escape, terrible nightmares constantly come back. Some nightmares were better, some nightmares were worse and some seemed so real that I could feel the pain ripple down my spine. I would wake up during the day, or in the night... sweating, panting and tears running down my cheeks like little rivers. They may not still be in the physical realm, but they still remain in my heart... forever.

Some days the horrors would fade away into my memories, but I couldn't be certain when they would return. What would never fade away was my hatred for humans, it still burns. It still blazes. It is dark, it is molten... and it glows... painlessly.

"I'll wait for you dad. I'll wait for you to come back. If you're not going to come and find me, I'll go and find you. For there is nothing else... I will not do."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Beyond fantasy**

The sound of birds whispered around my ears, they chirped and cheered all around me. But slowly... they diminished, and all that was left... was the crunching of bones, the slithering of snakes and a man that burnt the forest down. That is what heard, and it disturbed me. So I awoke, to somewhere... strange.

Emptiness... that's what that place felt like... that's what it was at the time. I could see in front of me... but I saw nothing but death, nothing but life... thieving like it always does. A black space, something that could not be possible. There was no sun, no trees, no clouds... nothing.

"You know..." Whispered a familiar voice, its echoes reverberating through my mind. "from the moment we are born, we constantly take from another. To us... it takes meaningless things, like memories and sometimes friends. But the most important one... is time."

"Who are you... what is this place?" I asked, a look of confusion and fear burying itself into my face.

"Corruption... your mind... and a meaningless life, that was wasted by none other... than you." The voice started to pace up, its anger piling up like the endless beat of war drums. "I'm everything you lost... I'm everything... you never had. Distorted memories... and emotions... mostly. Have you ever wondered about the meaninglessness of your life? The only things you can change in earths history, are a couple of children and a waste of my air and space."

"No you're wrong! I have a friend, I have my life to keep, my new home and people... and time is the one thing, that I will never allow to be stolen from me... that amongst other things. I don't have any quarrel with you... and I hope that I never will." I stated, my head held high, beads of sweat pouring down my cheeks.

It started off soft, then it got louder, loader and louder until my ears were filled up with the maddening laughter. A familiar laugh, filled with frustration, anger and fruitlessness. It was endless... thousands of the same voice echoed throughout my mind. I tried to ignore the sounds, but it was useless. But all of a sudden, it stopped.

"No? Well I... have a quarrel with you." The voice giggled.

I heard footsteps, but he was still nowhere to be seen. A phantom that got closer and closer. I then felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Your life stole family..." And before I could get a look at his face, I felt a burning sensation erupting from within. A searing hot pain that burnt my insides... pure pain, that strangled every thought that I attempted to hold onto. It felt like small pieces of burning shrapnel melting through my chest. A hole in my body that leaked the very fabric of my sanity.

"Love is the emotion that I will never allow you to feel. You are the mistake to this misbegotten race."

"NO!" I yelled, pulling myself up. My eyes dashed around, trying to pull everything that just happened into reality. Then a look of confusion crossed my face, I was in my bed, beads of sweat leaped off my nose and joined the small puddle in the sheets. My heart was pounding on my chest like the war drums. A single name crossed my mind, it was haunting... it felt angry. A pile of thoughts came quickly to my head, and I was soon in distress.

I didn't realise it at first, I was still in shock... but my own head whispered none other than 'Cyrus...'. I felt the growing pain, that had dreaded me all those years ago... a question that plagued my sanity... "Why did I save that human?"

"I need to think about this." I thought to myself, and I was disheartened, the flow of thoughts made no sense to me. And each time, I felt like I understood the fate of this mysterious…thing, I was then bombarded with a new piece to the puzzle.

Frustration, that's what I felt. Like a plague it rushed over me. That was what it felt like, that was what it was at the time. But I knew then, that it wasn't frustration... it was anger. The anger of my forgiveness, and forgetfulness.

 _I had tried to forget, the things that Cyrus had taught me all those years ago. I had tried to forget, what images the past had put into my head. I tried to leave the past behind me... but it was always in front of me, always one step ahead... waiting. I can't forgive myself, for the misdeeds... the naivety that I had for the world_.

Looking around, I stared out the window and into the dim dreamy morning sunlight. I slowly let myself slip outside, I dodged around the sunlight, and jumped into the shadows of the trees. My fear of the sun still plagues my fears. I ended in a set of bushes on a hillside, there was a man and his child walking towards the distance.

At first glance, it was hatred, nothing but hatred, the same wildfire in the same forest. The things I would do to a human if I get my hands on one, you wouldn't want to know. But as time went on, that hatred turned into jealously. Their silhouettes basking in the light, a beautiful sight that sent tears to my eyes. 'I never had that... and I wasted the only thing I had, on a worthless human. I sacrificed my mother, my brother... my home... gone from my naivety, love and selfishness.' I bit my lips, and felt the feeling of blood rushed down my cheeks.

"The only blood I have left, is my father. I will savour every moment with him as if its my last. I have to find him... but first, got to find Lachesis. She will guide me... and together, we can live happily ever after... right?" I said, now filled with ambition. My heart filled with hope. I then turned to leave.

As I left, I didn't notice. But the man and the child, had stood completely still the whole time. The man stood there smiling, his hair brown and curly. He had blue eyes, and a large build. The boy was small and tiny, his image a perfect copy of the man's, except for the difference in size. Their faces, both young and perfect.

There was then a screeching noise, and their skin started to age and fade. Their flesh rotten and decomposing, time around them dug deep into their skin. And the screams of a thousand lifetimes cried for mercy.

The man had a hole in his chest, he couldn't stop the bleeding. With one hand he barely held his intestines in. And the child, was shaking at the knees, with flayed skin, and many cuts and bruises. The child suddenly fell in half, the lower half of his body dissolving. 'They were never alive in the first place... they simply became one with time.'. From behind them, was a single figure. His flipper like tail swished from left to right, and he held the head of a decapitated man as a trophy.

"I'm glad you think that way. But you are still a naïve idiot. You will always be second, never first. I will always be one step ahead of you."

* * *

"Lachesis. Wake up." I said, tapping her shoulder.

It was in the morning, and golden light pierced through the window before casting beautiful patterns on the wall.

"Stop it..." She groaned, still asleep on top of the desk. She doesn't like it when I bother her while asleep. "It better be...I-important."

"Guess what." I started. "I've evolved into a Servine."

Immediately, she opened her eyes and sat herself up. She had the most exited expression on her face, as if it was Christmas morning. Like a human trainer, she wanted me to evolve and become stronger.

"Finally! After 3 years you've..." Lachesis said before her eyes came across a disappointing sight, her face dropped, I was still a Snivy.

"Piss off..." She mumbled, laying back down again. "Cheeky little bastard."

"Since you're awake. Can I-can I talk about something with you?" I said, cheeky smile now visibly painted across my face.

"Make it quick." She sighed, turning away from me.

"I want to go find my father."

Lachesis paused then giggled a bit before realising she was being rude, she rolled over and sat up in front of me.

"You know, kid. I mean...let's be real here." She smiled, her mouth was twitching, trying to supress the obvious... and impending laughter. "Your-your dad..."

Before she could finish her sentence, all the laughter that she was holding in her mouth bursted out without warning. While she laughed, I stood there with a frown. My father was the only thing I had left in this world, he meant everything to me at the time. He shouldn't be laughed upon.

My father is the only reason why I chose to push forward.

"You don't have to be an bitch." I said, crossing my arms.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just, it's just..." Lachesis laughed, and was still trying to pull herself together. "No offense, kid, but I think your dad's dead."

"NO!" I snapped, killing the laughter in the room. "He is still alive! He couldn't have died! He promised to come back!"

"Kid." Lachesis started, her smile died away. She placed her paw on my should hoping that it would help her get her point across more easily. "We've gone through this before...he isn't coming back. He left you and your brother the moment your egg came into this world, that's 13 years! Besides, there is a war going on. Either mother nature has got his ass, or the Germans or the Japanese killed him."

"But-but." I said, trying to avoid the fact that he could be dead.

"Heck!" Lachesis interrupted. "The Americans, French, Italians, Russians, Chinese, British, Canadians, Australians or New Zealander's could have killed him. The odds aren't in your favour, kid. It's a fucked up world out there."

My only goal in life is to find my father. If he is dead, what was the point of everything I did to prepare? I have failed everything in life, I saved a killer, I got my family killed, I am guilty of everything. I felt like a sin, a disease... the 'Mistake of a Misbegotten race'.

 _You don't have to be a hero or a villain to be successful. In this world only the greatest people succeed, the only thing they wipe away, is the blood on their hands._

"Lachesis." I started. "The last known location of my dad is beyond the east mountains, I must to go and find him."

Lachesis sighed. "I know how it feels to wait for someone who never came back. I gave up looking a long time ago, you need to move on and forget about the past."

"That's just the problem." I replied. "I still have these...nightmares, they come and go like the seasons. Every time they come back they bring an overwhelming amount of guilt with them. I want to redeem myself, I want to see my dad for the very first time."

"Sorry, kid" Lachesis answered bluntly, crossing her arms. "The east mountains opens its arms with a dangerous road, a lot of predatory Pokémon between us and the unforgiving distance."

"Please Lachesis. " I begged, sitting down in front of her. "You have to help me out!"

"Sorry, kid." Lachesis signed. "I ain't risking my life to meet a Samurott that I have no connections with."

"Please Lachesis." I continued to beg. "I don't want to be parentless, I want my dad!...I'm starting to believe that Cyrus is my dad."

Lachesis gagged, before resuming the conversation.

"You shouldn't be complaining, kid." She said, shaking her head. "I grew up with the Navy. Sorry, I'm not going to help you with this one."

"Fine! Be the lazy bitch that you are you are. I don't need your fucking help anyway." I started, standing up. "I'll go by myself. And stop calling me kid!"

Lachesis ears rose and eyes widened.

"I doubt it you are determined to go that far...kid." Lachesis muttered.

…

She was wrong, I was determined like never before. Lachesis always under estimates me, I'm not as weak anymore. If life throws a stone wall in front me, I'll knock each one down, over and over again. I'm sick of going around the wall. When the golden ball of fire rests below the horizon, a new night begins. When I set my foot out the door... a new adventure begins. But unlike any other adventure that I had with Lachesis, I now have none of her guidance anymore. The only guidance I have is the stars and galaxies. My map... the peoples map. I walked into the night, disappearing into the forest around me. The only things I took with me was the flute and Cyrus's scalchop.

I didn't want to get Lachesis involved with my personal problems anymore, she has helped me for three years and now it's time I help myself.

 _I'll either die alone or die in my father's arms._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Beyond Heroism**

I could feel it, the cold deathly stare of a predator. It was lurking about the shadows, readying itself for an attack. I let myself breathe out deeply, and quietly waited for the wind to come rushing forward. I felt it, the tingling sensation that had creeped into my scales. Just like every other night, the orchestra of the bug Pokemon could be heard playing, the gentle rustling of the leaves, the kisses from the wind and the presence of humans. I began slowly, and jogged into a sprint. The rustling sound of leaves echoed behind me. I ran, I ran as fast as I could. After a short while, I took a sharp turn and hid behind a tree; only to come back out from where I was hiding, and sprinting back towards the same direction.

It was a trick of the eyes, their attention was directed to where they thought their prey would come running out. I immediately climbed up the tree, frantically grabbing the branches. I sprawled my way up, and quietly sat myself down on one of the branches.

"Fucking hell, it's freezing out here. Are you sure you saw something?" The first voice questioned, his stubborn voice overwhelmed by the cold biting wind, as he saw the trees dance haphazardly under the moon's shadows.

"No shit I saw something! Otherwise I wouldn't be out here hunting with you, dumbass." Another voice muttered out.

I ignored their remarks, and tried to sit comfortably on the cold branch as possible. One of the hunters decided to sit under the tree I was on while the other one went into the tall bushes. I was several meters up the tree. Even though I was in plain sight, the idiots below never bothered to look up. Sometimes I wondered what the world would be like if all the smart asses suddenly went amiss.

Although I had been disturbed by the presence of the hunters, I attempted to calm myself. The hunters, they are like a living memory, a bad memory. The type of memory that you want to have no correlations with, but it will always finds a way to hit you. All seemed still, yet it was moving with me. I distracted myself by absorbing all the nature around me; the unexplored terrain that lurked behind every tree and every rock. I had thought about it for a while, as it disturbed my mind with the endless possibilities that could have been taken. I could have been different, but I was an accident, meeting Lachesis was also an accident. The snake that I could have become if my parents were there to guide me. Everything boils down to time or lack thereof; because in the end nobody lives forever. We don't know what kind of people we truly are until the moment before our deaths. As death comes to embrace you, you will realize what you are. That's what death is.

"It's all because of them...It's all because of them." I whispered to myself, staring at the hunters below.

 _I hated humans. I hate them so much that it's hurts. Kill them like they killed your loved ones. No wait, there is no value in killing._ _There isn't! There isn't!_

I tried to ignore their presence, but it pushed my sanity to its limits. I wanted those hunters dead, I wanted them to feel the pain that had I felt. But I felt myself doubting myself. I wanted to change back to who I was, a free soul. At the back of my head, I wanted something to break this hate. I felt like I was going to lash out at anything.

Gentle whispers began pushing my thoughts to the limits, they may seem insignificant at first; but with enough encouragement they can force anything to happen. Reason clashing with revenge, hate clashing with ethics. The voices sounded familiar, like the one in my dream, it sounded calm...like Cyrus's voice. I sat on the branch, shaking my head left and right. Trying to get the voices out of my head. But no matter how much I tried to shut them up, they continued. With each passing minute they got louder and louder till they eventually drove me to the breaking point.

"Please stop!" I cried in my thoughts, begging for an end.

"Isn't it cold out here? Hmmph. They are the reason why you are here." It said. "They are the reason why Cyrus is gone."

"Please stop!" I screamed.

"Cyrus never wanted to love you. You don't deserve his love."

 _I hate the humans, I hate them so much!_ _They are the reason for everything._ _Where's my happy ending huh?! WHERE IS IT?!_

"Yes! Embrace your rage. Caress your fear. Gorge your hatred. Voice your doubts. You should kill them all. You must kill them all. Pluck their wings. Leave them broken. Eyes are the windows to the soul. Shatter them forever. KILL THEM! KILL THEM!"

 _But I couldn't...I was scared._

I was unable to embrace the rage. It kept on slipping out of my hands, or because I purposely decided to force it down. No matter how much I was tempted, there always remained an invisible wall which forbid me from going into the unknown regions. Why can't I be strong and do what my heart desires? Why can't I be the fearless Serperior that everyone talks about? Why do I need to rely on other creatures so much? Why am I...so weak? I want to be blessed by courage, I want to feel independent and powerful but, frankly, Arceus forbids that.

I just sat there, frozen and helpless. My tensed muscles loosened, fingers loosely folding around the bark.

There was a moment of silence and shadows seemed to mark the feeling of despair on my face. The forest was crying, and the stars were judging my sins. Another dream had died. A child of it had lost his hopes. It endlessly wept as he witnessed life took other life, it was an endless cycle that would overwhelm everything. The forest would bathe in its own flesh and blood, its children. And it would continue to grow and age, watching those around it die in pain. I had everything taken away from me, because of a stupid mistake and now I'm unable to redeem myself. What was so sinful about revenge? Whatever it was, it stopped my every thought and motion. The only thought going through my head was Cyrus. After all, they took away the one thing that can't be replaced. Love. I missed him so much, I loved him for than my own mother. I wanted to be with him...I wanted to be with him. Why should I care for anyone when no one bothered to care for me?

"Another violent death. Face the other, give in to your pride. Show me your greatness. See how effortlessly he became unraveled, now extinguished! Kill them all!" The voice screamed.

But it failed, I remained as the hopeless snake resting on top of a tree. The voice failed to realize that it was just wasting time and effort in an attempt to convince a failure. As the hunter stood up and began leaving the area, the voices disappeared with him.

"They are the reason why mother is dead!" I screamed while frantically punching the tree. Bits of bark were flying in all different directions.

"They are the reason—" I screamed, a small river of tears appeared before dripping down my scales before hitting the earth. "—they are the reason why Cyrus left me!"

I punched the tree so many times until my fists were littered with bruises, blood and splinters.

"Cyrus." I cried, lying on the branch before curling into a ball. "I want to see your smile again..."

I laid there stationary, it was that same feeling that hit me again. Helplessness...

 _Why won't it go away. Why won't it go away!_ _I'm scared to_ _fight it, I'm scared to fight anything._

I laid there, crying. I was consumed by guilt, locked up in it's cage. I barely even noticed that I was still lying on a tree.

Why do I miss him so much? Because he was the only one who made this world more bearable? Because he was the only one who was able to make me laugh and smile? No... it's because there will never be anybody who comes close to him.

I stared at my hands, they were covered in blood, showing no signs of green. They were like Cyrus's blood, always stained in my mind, refusing to disappear. Somehow everything seemed so calm, the trees were dancing involuntarily, the moon still beamed its light; and I was still breathing.

My mind was falling, layers of sanity overlapping every connection. I looked up at the midnight moon. _Beautiful._ Was all that I could think.

"Why am I still alive...why..." I whispered, staring at my hands which groaned and shivered under the pain. But out of the red I spotted something blue, something blue in the bushes ahead of me. Almost like a silhouette of a Dewott.

"Cyrus?" I said, standing up before sliding down the tree.

He said nothing. He just stood there. There was a patch of red fur in the middle of his chest, small drops of blood could been seen dripping. It was like he just got shot seconds ago. We stared at each other for a while. He stared at my bloody hands and I started at his blank expression. His whiskers wobbled with the wind, his black eyes were calm as always, it felt so real.

"Cyrus?" I repeated. "Is that you?"

 _Was I dreaming? Was all of this real? Was I hallucinating?_

No words came out of his mouth, he turned around and ran into the bushes as if he was playing a game of hide and seek...a game that we always played.

"Cyrus!" I said, getting up before sprinting towards that general direction, into the bushes. "Please come back!"

Even though he could run faster than me, somehow, I could always seem to catch up to where he was.

"Please come back!" I yelled, while avoiding tripping over the branches. "Please!"

"Wait for—" I called, before tripping over a branch and rolling down a hill. My head hit a couple of trees on the way before landing in a small puddle of mud.

"Ach!" I muttered, standing up.

The wet mud on my body had leaves of all different shapes and colours glued to them, while other parts of my body had bruises. Though, I felt pain, I was still focused on finding my brother.

I looked around me, there was a pond in front of me, in the distance was a small waterfall. The sound of the water could be heard splashing all the way from where I was. The moon painted the water silver. And sitting on the bank of the pond was the Dewott. My brother.

"Cyrus!" I called out running towards him with my arms open.

I felt so happy. It's been too long since I felt the warmth of his fur, too long since I've been in his arms, too long since I ever smiled. No longer did I feel hopeless, I was with Cyrus. I am no longer lost in this miserable world, I am under his smile. Under his love.

Cyrus turned his lead to look at me as I ran closer and closer, he smiled at me. But with each step I took closer towards him, the further away he was. The closer I walked towards him, he began to glow blue and fade away with time. When I thought that all my miseries had ended, they came back. In the end, I was left empty handed next to a silver pond, lost in this forest, lost in my mind. I was alone again, it was meaningless. The only thing that still had meaning, was finding my father. But then again, doubts roamed my mind. If my dad really loved me, then he would have stayed with mother. Everything was a lie. Cyrus is dead, mother is dead, I should be dead. Cyrus doesn't love me. If he did, then he would have taken me into his arms.

Everything seemed meaningless. Empty. There's that void again, that moment when you realize how clueless everyone around you is. I'm a parasite, attaching myself to Lachesis; who is the closest thing to family since Mom and Cyrus. But I'm still just stupid, just creating purposes for myself to keep going. Everything I needed was right in front of me. Instead I just created an allegiance to the pain. I abandoned Lachesis, like the asshole I am. I rejected her love. She could disappear, and I wouldn't care why. I wonder, what dreams I had before I surrounded myself with love? Acts of bravery? Acts of love? Freedom? Whatever they were, I had lost them... along with my sense of compassion. _Worthless trash._

An hour into the forest, just barely an hour. Lachesis was right...I should just give up.

"Hey kid!" A familiar voice yelled. "There you are—"

I turned around, only to spot Lachesis sitting on a tree branch in the distance. She had her Mauser with her.

"...you look terrible." She said, sliding down the tree, commenting the bruises, leaves and mud on my body. "What happened?"

"...nothing."

* * *

 **073 032 097 109 032 116 104 097 116 032 118 111 105 099 101 032 121 111 117 032 104 101 097 114 046 032 083 105 110 099 101 032 119 104 101 110 032 119 101 114 101 032 121 111 117 032 116 104 101 032 111 110 101 032 119 104 111 032 104 097 100 032 116 104 101 032 112 111 119 101 114 063**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Beyond Life**

"Do you need any help?" Lachesis asked. She was floating in the pond, face pointing towards the night sky with both of her arms and legs spread out, slowly drifting away.

"I'm fine." I replied, scrubbing off the dead leaves and dried mud. I tried my hardest to avoid touching my bruises.

We both went silent for a short period of time. Lachesis awkwardly stayed afloat, saying nothing, while I continued to scrub a spot that was already clean in the first place.

"Aren't the stars beautiful? It's a shame that we get to see them every night. It wastes its beauty on us." She started. "So, want to tell this old lady what happened?"

"What do you mean?" I said, looking over to where Lachesis was floating. She laid stationary at the deep end of the pond.

 _Ha... Old_ _lady._

"You know what I mean." She said. "Your fists were covered in blood. Is that ringing any bells for ya, kid?"

"I—"

"Before you start." Lachesis interrupted. "Is this about Cyrus?"

"...yes." I replied, before scrubbing off the blood on my fists.

Lachesis took a deep breath in and sighed. Despite being a good couple of meters way from her, I was able to hear the air exhaling out of her mouth. Almost as if she was trying to shame me. It was working.

"This isn't the first time that this happened." Lachesis sighed.

She was right, this wasn't the first time something like this happened. But when it does, Lachesis seems to always finds a way to calm me down before I have a complete meltdown. However there was something I didn't understand. Why does she care for me so much? She wastes her time and effort on a "nobody" like me. However, when it comes to anyone else, she couldn't care less. I'm not her mate and I'm certainly not her child. Maybe because we're friends? Then again, maybe because it's all pointless. She's probably using me to help pass her time faster.

"Come on." Lachesis said, standing up before walking towards the bank of the pond. "Let's get moving."

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"We are going to find your dad." Lachesis muttered. "How did you manage to forget that?!"

"I-I thought you weren't coming." I said, jumping out of the pond before shaking all the water off.

"If I don't come, you'll most likely end up dead within a few hours." Lachesis said, pulling herself out of the pond. Her fur soaked up a lot of water; but when she stood up, water flowed out of her like a tap.

 _I'll most likely be dead in a few hours._

Was I really that hopeless? The words echoed through my mind, for what seemed like forever. Every time, it felt like the words were stabbing my pride.

…

So it was all pointless.

"Lachesis." I said, getting her attention. She was busy shaking the water out of her fur.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"I feel like..." I hesitated, looking down at the dirt. "It's pointless."

"What do you mean?"

"Finding my dad." I replied. "What's the point of it all? I barely even know him. And what am I going to do when I find him? Live with him? Scold him about leaving mother?"

"It wouldn't change jack shit! He wouldn't care about me. If he did care for me, then he would have stayed with mother!" I yelled, clenching my teeth. "I am an accident! A glitch is this fucking system that we call life! Serperior's and Samurott's shouldn't be able to produce children! And here I am, stuck in this shit world!"

There was a moment of silence. Lachesis stared at me with a neutral confused expression, while I stared at her with my fists clenched. I finally understood what Lachesis meant when she said "I gave up trying to go back a long time ago". The futile meaning of accomplishments. Why bother doing anything, when you know you'll achieve nothing?

"...why are you so angry?" Lachesis asked while walking towards me.

"Because." I started, avoiding eye contact by staring at the dirt. "I never asked to be born. I hate this world."

Lachesis paused, and then began laughing. She stopped in front of me with a cocky smile. She then wrapped her hands around me, holding me close to her belly. I was tempted to snuggle in with her warm fur, but threw aside any such thoughts.

"The world isn't perfect. You're just one more in the billions out there. So, try not to take things too seriously. My responsibility as your senior, is to guide you on this path. My responsibility as your friend, is to make sure you get the love that you lost; no matter how little a difference it makes." Lachesis laughed before flicking me on the nose. "You and I have completely different situations. You're comparing yourself to me aren't ya?"

I felt my face light up with an expression of excitements but before I could make any comments, she continued talking.

"Kid." Lachesis continued in a calm voice, she placed her paw on my chin before tilting it up for eye contact. "The reason why I am here right now is because I have no choice. For me, change is futile. I was ditched here, my owner and the navy aren't going to come back for me."

"However, kid..." Lachesis said, a smile creeping up to her face. "you have the choice. Who cares if you were an accident? Who cares if your dad doesn't love you?"

"I care." I argued. "What's the point of finding him if he is going to reject me?"

"Well, you should stop caring." She said, rolling her eyes. "Somethings in this world are best left unknown. Do things for the fun of it and not for the reasons. After all, you need some adventure in your life before things get stale."

"...and who knows what we'll find beyond out there. You'll learn from experience." Lachesis smiled, tilting my head towards the waterfall in the distance. It greeted me with its powerful waves and the reflection of the moons lights. Beyond the waterfall was a giant slab of rock, the giant roared with might as it sat comfortably on the earth. The east mountain. A monster that dotted the landscape, its vast size overwhelming the largest of cities.

The adventure, the thrill of it. The knowledge and unexplored terrains that I could only dream about, it was all there. It somehow made sense, in a way. Lachesis was the girl who had achieved everything, but lost it all before she could enjoy it. She had completely lost interest in her dreams, because her hopes were impossible to achieve. She just sits back and lets the days pass by. That was until I showed up at her front door. When I thought Lachesis had changed my life, I was wrong. I changed her life. I guess I was the one keeping her sane. After all, Lachesis still thinks herself a soldier. And as a soldier, you sacrifice yourself in the hopes of helping others. I gave Lachesis a reason to live.

"Then why didn't you want to come with me the first time?" I asked.

Lachesis rolled her eyes then replied.

"Because I didn't realise how dangerous it was. It's only been a few hours and you've already manged to hurt yourself. You're not going to come back alive. After all you're very special to me."

 _Excuse me... did I hear that right? Was what I heard...Very special_ —

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the forest, interrupting my thoughts. It made both of us jump. Some screams could be heard in the distance, along with another gunshot; before the sound of crackling branches and rustling leaves dominated the silence. I didn't want to think about it. What was going on over there?

"Shit..." Lachesis hissed, tightly gripping her pistol. "Let's get out of here, quickly."

* * *

"Why are there so many of them tonight? This isn't normal. They're trying to establish a perimeter." I panted, while trying to keep up with Lachesis's running.

The hunters, they were getting closer to us by the minute. Their gunshots, footsteps and voices became more louder. They were desperate, searching for anything that is edible before dawn came. A few hours ago, the forest seemed calm, alive and still played its symphony. Leaves rattled, winds whistled, lakes danced with life; and the bug Pokémon roared perpetually. The forest no longer felt calm. And everything was in chaos.

My legs were shaking, and the wind was howling. And I could feel my stomach turning. This feeling, it was familiar. And then it hit me. This was exactly like that night a few years ago. This was the feeling, of being hunted. The loud scampering noises all around me, as Pokémon scrambled for safety. Young ones falling over, a stampede right behind them. The crunching of bones, as adults and children alike were inevitably compressed into a gooey mess.

But then... it felt...empty, and cold. It felt as if we were the only two Pokémon alive in this forest. The bug Pokémon...they no longer could be heard.

"Did they flee? Did they decide to hide? Or did they all die?" I whispered, scared to wake anything around me.

"I don't know." Lachesis replied in a blasé tone as she hopped left and right, dodging some nearby branches. "Maybe they realised it going to be dawn soon, and they barely gathered anything edible, so they decided to go genocide."

 _The pain they feel...as they try to gasp onto the final few seconds of life. How do I push something like this out of my head?_

"Do-do you think, the others will be...okay?" I questioned in an unstable voice. "Do-do you think they will be safe?"

"Don't bother worrying for other creatures when you are in danger yourself." Lachesis said, picking up her speed. "If they know how to run, hide or fight... then they should be safe."

"Follow me! Quickly." Lachesis said, grabbing my hand before turning a sharp left into a maze of tall grass.

Usually, you would be able to find a couple of baby Pokémon or eggs sitting among the tall grass. The look on their faces when you spot them, is just adorable. Their small bodies and big eyes make you want to cuddle them to death, but... tonight was different.

 _There's_ _nothing but grass, it's empty. There's no Pokémon_ _here. I mean, what was I expecting? They'd probably all bailed._

There was a gnawing sensation gripping onto me. This feeling of uneasiness and anxiety, biting down into my subconsciousness. My courage was failing me; it was slowly seeping out of my bumbling mouth. The voice had returned, my thoughts in sync with its words.

 _I'm going to die. It's my fault, it's all my fault. Amazing! Hahaha-HAHAHAHA! LOOK AROUND! They will skin you alive, and present your flayed skin to their greedy wives. Pathetic. Flee, screaming into the black forest. Save yourself the trouble._

"This way." Lachesis said, before pulling me out of the tall grass.

 _These men will hunt you down. After all... what can change the nature of a man? You resist. You cling to life as if it actually matters. You will learn. When you walk among the black forest, you will see._

Lachesis then pulled me into a nearby cave. We barely made it in, whilst clumsily stumbling over our own legs.

The cave wasn't big. It was enough to fit a small tree, however... it was not big at all. The moon light outlined most of the cave, there were some shadowy corners. The cave walls leaked water. Streams of water flowed off the walls before ending up in a small puddle.

"Are we s-safe?" I panted, trying to catch my breath from the all the running. The scalchop and flute stuck firmly into the sheath. There was no way I was going to lose them.

"We should be." Lachesis said, wiping away the sweat from her forehead. "The bastards shouldn't be able to find us through the grass."

"How'd you know this place?" I asked, looking left and right checking for danger.

"Kid, unlike you. I don't sit under a tree all day." Lachesis panted. "I've lived here for 6 years."

"...so, what now?" I said, staring at the grass. The sounds of gunshots still firing away as the sky started fading brighter. Soon, a bright orange glowed and danced at the horizon. Giving life a warm welcome...

"Welp." Lachesis sighed, staring into the distance as dust broke into dawn. "We should get some rest. They should stop their hunt... soon."

We sat in the cave and watched the sun draw it's borders for me. It's bright orange light, marked right outside the cave entrance. And yet I still felt cold, the voices still lingered in my head; steadily increasing in volume. And my eyes were starting to get irritated. And it only got worse and worse. Time passed by, and Lachesis fell soundly asleep.

 _You fear, it feeds on you. And carves as slowly as I may feed. The shadows dance at your anxiety. And your eyes feel itchy, so much that you are compelled to scream, and pronounce your doom. You're uncomfortable, and you hate this feeling in your eyes._

I distracted myself by watching Lachesis sleep. Her chest heaving with every breath she took. Unlike me, she could actually sleep soundly in this kind of condition. I guess the navy did train her well. But then again, she doesn't have a homicidal voice whispering dark thoughts every once in a while. This voice, not only did I fear it, but I was also curious about it. Where did it come from? Is it just me, or someone else? I did not know. Eventually, I snuggled up next to Lachesis; and waited for another day to begin.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Beyond denial comes acceptance**

"You ready?" Lachesis said, bending over to take a sip of water from the puddle in the middle of the cave.

"Yeah." I yawned, stretching my tail before picking up my sheath. Lachesis had somehow managed to attach her Mauser to a piece of rope; made from dried grass to the side of the sheath. Now, I'm carrying everything. All together, the flute and everything else seemed light. However, they did prove a challenge to carry around.

The evening sun bled a trail of red across the clouds, as it drew it's final breath under the distant hills and canopy. Despite the starting of a new night, the silence still lingered. The trees still danced, the winds still howled, the rivers still flowed. However they all seemed emotionless. It felt so calm, yet so creepy and... chilling. Everything seemed the same, but all too different. Soon, the few surviving glimmers of light traced the sun down the hill. Once again, the stars began their wondrous display. With the moon hanging around, and watching the beautiful show.

"Let's go." Lachesis said as she walked into the maze of bushes and grass. I followed closely behind her.

As we walked through the tall grass, I peered left and right searching for any signs of life. Searching for something, someone... anything. I remembered the gunshots, the panic, the ever-growing fear towards the hunters. But yet again, there was nothing. And I stared plainly into this desolate land.

"Anyone here?!" I called out while pushing through the grass.

No replies, no nothing.

"Shut up!" Lachesis whispered, giving me an angry stare. "We don't want to attract attention."

That was just about all she had to say that night. After jumping out of the tall grass, I followed Lachesis's footsteps, as we slowly made our way towards the mountains. Tonight, I didn't have the forest's orchestra to listen to, I wasn't able to hum to it's beautiful tune. The only sounds were the unpleasant rattling leaves, and the occasional sound of gunshots. Despite our progression towards the east mountain, everything looked the same. Endless rows of trees and the same set of stars. Sometimes we would walk past a corpse or two, either a human or Pokémon. I didn't want to look at it, I didn't want to think about it... but just like the corpse, the thought continued to linger. I didn't want to care. For me, caring has become synonymous with fear.

"Stop." Lachesis said in an instance. She stood perfectly still, her ears raised up. Nothing but the sounds of our breathing could be heard.

By now, we were a good couple of hours away from the cave. We probably should've been able to reach the bottom of the mountain by tonight.

"Can you hear that?" Lachesis asked while glancing left and right.

"Hear wha—"

"Shut up and listen." Lachesis interrupted by turning around and placing a paw over my mouth.

A faint sound of twigs snapping, followed by a gentle hiss echoed in the bushes. We were being hunted, like always.

"Lachesis." I whispered before slowly pushing away her paw. "What was that?"

Lachesis ignored my question. She swiftly drew the pistol out of the sheath and yelled into the surrounding bushes.

"Piss off!" She yelled with her paws cupped around her mouth for amplification. "I've got enough bullets in this gun to turn all of you into mush!"

All of you? It's good to see something survived the onslaught from last night.

The sounds of rattling leaves and twigs snapping echoed even more, it slowly got further away before completely disappearing.

"What was that about?" I asked, tapping Lachesis on the shoulder.

"The locals." Lachesis replied, placing her pistol back into my sheath. "Sevipers."

At least someone survived the humans last night.

"...They sound friendly." I said, staring off into the general direction where I believed they were. "Why did you ask them to go?"

"Because they are hungry." Lachesis started, as she began walking again. In front of us was a small grassy hill.

"Hungry?"

"They are a predatory species, which means they kill their food. You should be careful, they generally like to stalk their prey before attacking." Lachesis said in a agitated tone, as if she expected me to know this. "A couple of years ago when I got here, Sevipers were quite common. I once got poisoned by one, and trust me, hours of vomiting followed by hours of high fever is not a pleasant experience."

Sevipers used to be common? I'm pretty sure I've only seen like...2 Sevipers in my entire life.

"Why would they hurt a someone as lovely like you." I said with a smile and a faint blush, walking alongside next to Lachesis.

"Stop trying to hit on me." Lachesis smiled back, before giggling.

Damnit.

"Speaking of being hungry." Lachesis hinted. "It's about time we get something to eat."

"Well, how are we going find food?" I asked. "The humans probably took it all."

"You'll see." She grinned.

* * *

"You sure this is a good idea?" I asked, hiding in a set of bushes with Lachesis.

"Yeah, no shit it's a good idea." She replied before stepping out of the bushes with her Mauser in hand. "We've done this many times before. So, get a move on."

When you aren't able to get anything by yourself, you steal. And what better place can you look for good things, than from the humans. Their complicated technology and sophisticated food always proved to be valuable. We were right outside a large wooden cabin. It had a brick chimney that was actively pushing out it's fumes, it even had a couple of poorly made sliding windows around the back. Small glimmers of light were visible through the windows however, no voices could be heard. Large cabins like this were quite rare to come by.

Lachesis and I made our way towards the cabin, as I was helping Lachesis climb onto the window sill. Gentle hissing and the gentle sounds of slithering could be heard in the set of bushes where we were hiding before.

"If they get too close, I'll blow their heads off." Lachesis whispered as she opened the window, a breeze of welcoming warm air flooded out. She was probably reassuring me that we weren't in danger, a good way to prevent me from freaking out. I turned around to make sure they weren't getting too close. And at the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the fearsome elongated red pair of fangs and the blade-like tail. It swayed left and right, before disappearing into the bushes.

"Lachesis." I started, nervously looking around, making sure that they wouldn't up on us. "Is it safe to say that I feel insecure?"

"As long as you're not afraid to fight, then you'll feel secure. In case you're having any doubts, I'm not going to rape you. Hey, lets be serious... do I give a shit?" She replied, kneeling on the window sill offering her paw. A huge smirk placed on her face. I quickly latched by vines onto Lachesis's arm before pulling myself up.

After getting onto the window sill, we jumped down as quietly as possible. Making sure we didn't wake anybody in the cabin. It'd been a while since I've been in a warm place like this. Most days or nights were usually very cold; because the trees absorb most of the suns heat. Sometimes it gets so cold, the lower half of my body goes numb and I have to spoon Lachesis for heat...not the romantic spoon, the tactical spoon.

The cabin seemed quite cosy; a fire keeping the place nice and toasty. An oak wood coffee table in front of the fire, and a Mareep wool rug, some couches around the coffee table. A brown kitchen table behind all of the furniture and a tiny kitchen behind everything else. However, there was something strange about this place. There was no bedroom, there was nobody in here, and there wasn't a front door. It was like this place, just... happened.

I wonder who designed this place? In fact, who lives here?

"Lachesis. Is it just me or is this place...too empty?" I said, looking around the place. Lachesis walked her way towards the kitchen while eying the place out like I am.

"Well it's better than nothing kid." She replied as she sprinted the rest of her way to the kitchen before starting to dig through the shelves and cupboards. Soon, she came back with an arm full of goods.

"I feel like the guy who started the gold rush in Australia." Lachesis smiled as she dumped everything in front of me. There were canned berries of all sorts, some neatly packed poffins and other baked goods, and a few bars of chocolate.

I was definitely delighted to see such food, it'd been a while since I've have a proper meal. Despite being happy about our food situation, there was still a hint of suspicion. Let's be real, who would have left the cabin with an unattended fire. Let alone, have this much food stocked up and none of it was Pokémon flesh. Even with these doubt's being presented as facts, I let them slip.

"Now, it'll be nice if I could find some 9 millimetre rounds for the Mauser. I've just about used up all three boxes we found a few years ago, ammo is rare." She said as she ran back into the kitchen. "And it'll also be nice you could help me find a can opener."

We spent a good couple of minutes turning the place inside out. In the end, we couldn't find a can opener so we just used the iron rod we found next to the fire place to ply it open. It definitely required some teamwork. As we sat in front of the fire eating the goods, I couldn't help but feel the growing suspicion. A cabin in the middle of the woods was rare itself, and having it stocked full of food was even rarer. It was like the cabin was expecting our arrival, not to mention the fire.

I feel like I'm being watched...

However, I was not scared. I was never scared when Lachesis was around. Together, we seemed to be able to defeat anything...well, Lachesis does most of the "defeating" for me.

"Don't you think this place is a bit too cosy?" I started while stuffing my face with a poffin.

"Well it's better than being outside." She replied with a mouth full of berries. "If you want you could go outside and join the Sevipers for the night. I ain't stopping you kid."

I stared out the window sill, outside, the sounds of violent hissing and branches snapping continued.

"No, thanks. I think I'll stay in here with you."

As I moved my head back down to look at Lachesis, a shadow caught my attention. It was a chilling figure, a figure that I never seen before. Its presence shock me down to the core. I felt my eyes widen and my body quickly reacting by scooting back a couple of meters.

I've never seen someone like this before.

"Are you okay?" Lachesis asked, watching slowly shiver away from the couch.

I raised my finger and pointed it in front of me, I pointed my finger to a girl who was sitting on the couch staring at me with. She was wearing what the humans call "formal clothing"; a black suit with a tie, black business pants, leather shoes, a pair of snow white gloves and a bird like mask with a pinned up slouch hat. I believe the mask was something similar to the 12th century plague doctor masks. It had glass eye openings and a cone nose shaped like a beak, one of the glass planes on the eye openings was somewhat shattered.

"There's a girl sitting on the couch." I hissed, clenching my fists.

Lachesis stopped eating then looked at the couch that I was hissing at.

"What girl?" She asked, standing up.

Are you blind?!

"Right there!" I said, raising my voice.

The girl didn't seem to care about my remarks, she remained silent while staring me down with her soulless looks. Nothing about this place makes sense, nothing about the girl who was staring at me made sense. Most her clothes were black, it covered almost every spec of visible skin on her body. The only few visible spots of her was her flaming red hair, her shady cheeks and mouth.

"Kid." Lachesis started, placing a paw on my should like she always does. "Wild mushrooms may be fun, but that doesn't mean you should mess around with—"

"Can't you see her!" I yelled, now hissing at Lachesis. "She is right there! Staring at us!"

"Kid, I think you should have a rest..."

* * *

"You sure you don't want to sleep?" Lachesis yawned, lying on the Mareep carpet.

I ignored Lachesis's remarks and sat there like I was on that rainy night, where I lost everything I loved.

"Suite yourself." Lachesis muttered before turning her back towards me. "Wake me up if there's anything fishy going on."

I don't understand. Why can't Lachesis see the girl on the couch? The girl wasn't a phantom, she couldn't be. Everything about her was detailed; her expression, her clothing and the way other things interact with her. I mean the couch is wrinkled by the way she sits.

It had already been a couple of hours of her sitting there. For the first few hours, she just sat there watching my every move. Tracing me like an Noctowl. After a while she seemed to have lost interest in me because she was now staring at the fire. Her expression was empty, she looked empty inside as well. She was like the empty forest with all of it's inhabitants stripped away. Nothing came out of her mouth, like no sounds came out of the forest at night. She was empty.

I am not scared of you. You're just a-a...

"What are you trying to prove?" I said, sitting up looking at the girl.

She remained silent and continued to stare at the flame.

"You think I'm weak without Lachesis, don't you?" I continued. "Well, you're wrong! I don't need anyone! I don't need anyone to protect me! Just because she can't see you doesn't mean I can't!"

"Are you sure?" She replied, still staring at the flame.

And that manged to shut me up.

She was probably one of those lies, those lies that either dragged me down or pushed me forward until I'm off the cliff.

That was the first time I heard her speak. She sounded familiar yet strange, calm and soft.

For some reason those three words hit me. What was she trying to prove? The limits a single organism could only take it so far. Probably not, but it definitely made me realise something. My happy, good ending was already taken away from me at the very beginning. It was ripped apart into shreds in front of me. Unlike a game that I know of, you can't reset everything with a push of a button and fix up all your mistakes. Mother died trying to protect her young ones, brother only wanted to say a final goodbye. And father never came into my world.

Worthy deaths? It's questionable.

"I should have been more grateful..." I started, curling back up into a ball.

The empty girl was just there, a meaningless entity. Someone who I could talk to but get no reply.

"I don't want to cry." I stuttered, despite having a fire, I shivered like it was that rainy night. The night that changed everything.

"Please stay with me. I don't want to feel alone." I cried, the familiar feeling of warm streaks of water flowed down my body and onto the floor.

"I hate my life!" I screamed. "I hate it so much!"

However, unlike every other time I cried, this time I had no one to comfort me. Lachesis had fallen asleep but it was like she wasn't able to hear any of my screams or, my screams were somehow muted.

Like anything is going to change...

It never really came to me until now, but I never felt so alone...so lost. I didn't realise how long I've gone without them, how much I needed them and how much I...missed them. How I never properly experienced mother's love, brother's loyalty and my father's courage... I miss them.

"They took anything! They took everything!" I gasped onto what little my sanity had to offer. "They took everything but me! They took everything but me..."

"Mommy! Mommy..." I cried before completely collapsing in exhaustion. "Why didn't they take me with you? I want to be there, somewhere peaceful...somewhere saf—"

"Shhh..." A voice hushed gently voice. "Don't cry my dear."

Huh?

I uncurled myself and lifted my head, I was somehow outside under the stars. I somehow wasn't cold anymore, I didn't shiver. For some reason, the sounds of bug Pokémon returned, bringing harmony into the forest's tunes. It was playing a calm melody tonight, just like how I remembered it.

Nothing makes sense...

I was leaning against something, and when I wiped my tears away to get a better look at my surrounds...I saw a face I hadn't seen in a long time.

"Are you okay my child?" She said, her ruby red eyes glowed brighter than any gemstone and her majestically gold patterns shined under the moons touch.

"Mommy!" I gasped as I leaped forward and grabbed onto her like the end of the world.

It's been too long...

"Please don't leave me!" I cried and hugged her tighter. "Please don't leave me...please don't go."

"It's alright dear." She said before lifting me up with her vines and kissing forehead. "Mommy is here. I promise that I will never leave you. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

I hugged her and cried and cried for as long I remember, I just wanted to stay next to someone I loved.

We stared at each other face to face. She was real, her ears where real, her fangs were real and her smile was real. She was my mother. I didn't want to forget what she looked like, I always wished for her company.

"You left me." I said, small droplets of tears flowed down my body before onto hers. "I watched Cyrus and you disappear. I watched you leave without saying goodbye. I was alone, you left me."

Mother placed me down into her coil before lowering her head into my arms. I held onto her green and gold ears and nose for as long as I needed. I didn't want to let go, I don't want to be along. Despite being frightened, never have I felt so warm, never have I missed the feeling of love.

"I'm scared that you'll disappear." I whispered.

Mother leaned further into my arms and cuddled me before licking me on the cheeks and smiling.

"There is no reason to be afraid. Have I ever told you what happened when I was younger?" She began. "When I was a little Snivy like you, there was a war that broke out amongst the humans. I used to belong to a human as his pet. One day he received a letter, and that letter changed our lives. He told me not to follow him but I refused and together, we marched into the trenches. Sounds that were louder than thunder roared endlessly throughout night and day."

She always tells me this story and I always asked a similar question.

"Were you scared?" I asked, my crying had calmed. I stared into her eyes like I always do, they comforted me the most because they always stared back at me with it's beauty.

"No, I wasn't." She replied. "Because every time when I tripped over into the mud, I picked myself up and continued on."

"Why?"

"Because after the rain, only then, a rainbow could appear." As she finished, mother began humming a gentle tune like she does.

"The pillars are falling—" She sang in her gentle voice, her fangs stuck out when ever she speaks. It always made me giggle. "—Between the crosses and a broken shore. They, said we would be victorious. Our actions would be righteous. But there is no song for us. For here we are, staring off into a void. Waiting for- somebody, to be wary of our sins; to remind them of our kin... and be brave. We're still young, but we got older. And the tales just seem to colder. We just want to escape. We feel breathless, but we want to share...what courage we have in us."

I laid in my mother's coil and sang along with her. Every time I cried, she would sing this song, it never gets old. A courageous song. I laid under the stars, holding onto my mother...I never felt so happy before, I wanted to stay here...forever, but at the back of my head I knew that something was invalid. For some reason, I know this was "one of those lies", it'll disappear and throw me back into my lonely world. Despite knowing this, I held onto my mother for a final time, I enjoyed every minute of her warmth.

I've never been more grateful.

If you could read this...I missed you mother.

"Mommy." I yawned, licking her on the nose. "Will you promise to stay with me?"

"I promise, I'll always be there."

And with that said, I fell asleep in her arms...

* * *

 **Authors note: The song that Matthew's mother sings was written by Pickolo (my editor), he has given me permission and the rights to use this song in this story.**

* * *

 **The girl who refused to die 12...**

 **(Good luck figuring that out)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Beyond limits**

Like most days and nights, I woke to the sound of weeping and gasping; followed by sticky sensation of sweat. Today was one of those days. I was woken by the sound of gentle weeping and crying. I opened my eyes and found myself lying in the corner of the cabin. The fire, was now just a small spec of light dispersing in it's desert of ash. Mother was nowhere to be seen, so was the girl from last night.

It was around evening when I woke up. The sun was blocked by the clouds, and the splattering sound of rain pounding endlessly on the roof. I stood up and expected myself to be lying in my puddle of sweat, but I was completely dry, and so was the floor. I raised my hands up and expected to wipe away a stream of salty tears, but my nothing was there. Despite all of this, the weeping sounds continued and gradually became louder. I eventually started walking around in the cabin, in search for the source of the sound. I was expecting the noises to be the "creepy girl's" mischief, however I was presented with a different conclusion.

For the first time, I was presented to something that I thought I would never see. The weeping sounds came from Lachesis. She laid on the Mareep carpet shivering while clinging the wool, to the point where some of the wool was getting pulled out. She turned left and right before gently squealing for help, soggy wool was present on both sides of the carpet. Her fur was also soaked in sweat.

I was more surprised than worried when I first saw Lachesis crying. She was that brave and fearless type of girl, who you wouldn't expect to see crying; yet here I am. I guess nightmares are just a normal thing, even the most bravest and strongest must have nightmares.

 _I should probably wake her up, before she hurts herself in her sleep._

"Lachesis." I called out, walking up to her. "Wake up."

"Lachesis." I said, tapping her shoulder.

"Lachesis!" I yelled, shaking her back and forth.

Immediately, she leaped up as if something bit her tail.

"Are you okay?" I asked, staring at Lachesis's expression.

She looked pale, as if she just had risen up from a grave. Her sweat made her fur crest down while giving off and awful scent, her eyes dashed left and right in a panicky manner. Lachesis knelt down and panted for a short time before turning her back to me and wiped away her tears.

"You okay?" I asked her again.

"N-never been better." She stuttered, trying to pull herself together.

Like me, she also has those haunting memories that occasionally come around. However, moments like that weren't as common as mine; and they certainly wouldn't push Lachesis to the point were she would start crying. She once told me it was all because of the war, it was because she saw too much.

"Are you sure? You were crying in your—"

Lachesis turned back and grabbed my golden collar, before pulling me down right in front of her.

"I said I'm fucking fine!" She yelled, a few specs of her saliva flew out of her mouth.

Lachesis had her nose pressed against mine, her eyes were tearing me apart with it's rage and her teeth hissed at me with anger. She stared at me as if I did something to piss her off. She held onto me for a couple of minutes before letting me go. It definitely took her a while to realise what she was doing.

"...I'm sorry, kid." Lachesis apologised while wiping off some of her sweat on her hands. "Don't take it personally."

I never took anything from Lachesis personally, she had been through a lot. She tells me that the things I've been through are nothing compared to hers...of course, I didn't believe her.

After, Lachesis looked about the window before grabbing my sheath and throwing it to me. She then proceeded to climb up onto the window sill before sliding open the window. I followed her and waited at the bottom.

When Lachesis is mad, usually, the best thing to do is shut up. Except, she wasn't mad, she was scared. She was mad because she is scared. I don't know what came over her, or what she saw in her dreams... but I do know that she has never been this mad before. She was...afraid. Despite all of this, she always tries to cover it up. However, it proved a challenge because she couldn't cover anything about the war. The war that the humans waged a long time ago.

"Let's get moving." She said, offering her paw down to pull me up. "We need to make up the distance that we lost."

It was still raining outside, winds made the windows stutter. Despite it still raining, I climbed up the window sill and jumped outside into the pouring rain. There was no arguing and there was certainly no complaining, I did what I was told. After all, Lachesis was the one helping me find my father. Our journey once again resumed, and we also had the same "company" from last night. We spent a good couple of hours walking in silence. The sound of rain supressed every other sound. It made listening to anything impossible. Each step we took forward, the mountain became larger and larger until the terrain changed from a flat surface into a steady uphill climb. However, we weren't the only ones that made this progress. The Sevipers from last night continued to stalk us. Their "stalking" had become relentless, they seemed to be breaking every possible twig. Even with the pouring rain, hearing them was not a challenge. They were desperate for us, they were desperate for food.

 _Can't the Sevipers_ _go bother someone else?_

They couldn't bother anyone else...because there wasn't anyone else to bother.

"Lachesis. T-They." I panted, exhausted from all the walking. "The Sevipers... they seem... angry."

"Let them come." She said blankly, occasionally peering left and right.

"So," Lachesis said, changing the topic, trying to distract me from the danger. "This adventure will be over soon, we should get over this mountain by tomorrow night. Have you thought about what you're going to say to your dad?"

"Not really." I replied. "I'm probably going to ask him a couple of questions."

"Are you going to tell him what happened to your—" Lachesis manged to shut herself up before finishing off her sentence. It was probably for the better because reminding me about my family's deaths definitely wouldn't help. "...never mind."

We spent another couple of minutes, walking in silence through the rain. I never really thought about it, but the forest had changed so much in these couple of days. First we were hunted by humans, and now we were being stalked by Sevipers. Things change quickly... too quickly. One night you hear the sounds of life, the next night you hear the sounds of death. One night you had everything, the next night you have nothing.

"Hey, kid." Lachesis started, breaking the silence. "I don't know how to tell you this but...don't be disappointed about what you find over the mountain."

"What do you mean?"

Lachesis sighed before staring up into the canopy, trying to come up with the words. Words that won't harm me. It's almost like she gave enough hints to me however I still wasn't able to figure out the answer.

"Remember a couple of months ago." She said, blushing a bit. "We were lying in the grass watching the stars...I-I turned you down but we're still here where we are. I said no and you were completely fine with it. You said you don't mind, you're always happy to be by my side. You weren't disappointed. I mean like, if... well if he doesn't accept you then... um; well I think I would like to recons- um... wait... well-"

Of course she doesn't like to talk about it in detail. She was probably too embarrassed to admit it...and so was I.

"Yeah." I hesitated, staring at Lachesis. "...But how does this have to relate to—"

Bang!

I stood there frozen. I couldn't feel anything but the biting touch of the rain. It felt like the same moment, the same moment that I saw Cyrus got shot. Another gunshot took away another life, another gunshot cleared my mind of all it's thoughts. Then, everything started to speed up again. Reality came back into my body, I could not escape this world.

"Are you okay?" Lachesis said, holding the Mauser with one paw and waving her paw in front of me with another.

Thump.

"Come on we need to get going. Quickly!" She gasped before grabbing my hand and sprinting off into the bushes. Her voice was muffled by the sound of ringing in my ears. As we ran, I peered over my shoulder to see what happened. Just inches away from where I stood, there laid a Seviper with a hole in it's body. It's blood oozed out before mixing with rain and mud. It desperately tried to move and get back up, but we all know that's not happening.

 _One moment we were chatting, the next moment we were running for our lives._

I've seen Lachesis kill before, twice in fact. However, just like the first time, her actions made me sick. The horrible loud "bang" before the soulless "thump", I was too familiar with those sounds. The idea of having a piece of copper tear apart any flesh and organs, was just too much for me.

 _She only did that to protect me...she only did that to protect me._

We were in trouble...serious trouble. Every time when were being hunted or chased, I always knew that we are going to get out in one piece. However, tonight I was having trouble convincing myself that we were going to be safe. One Seviper decided to go for us, now all of them were on our tails. They weren't just hungry, they were desperate. Two of us could only feed one of them.

"Careful!" She yelled as three Sevipers slithered in front of us. In and instant, Lachesis shot out powerful flares of electricity. The beams danced violently, some of the bolts hit the nearby trees, a couple stroked me in the process, while the rest hit the Sevipers.

"Ahhh!" I screamed before falling into the mud, volts of electricity burning my insides. I stared at my arms and hands, they twitched violently and resisted the commands I gave them. I tried pulling myself up off the ground but once again, my body refused to obey my command. Every time when I tried to move, the muscles in my body cramped up; and a unbearable pain rushed through my nerves. The pain was agonising and endless, but if I didn't get up; I'd probably never getting the chance to ever see my father ever again.

Lachesis pulled out her pistol and shot the two Sevipers that weren't paralyzed.

"Ahhhh!" I yelped, trying to get up.

"Oh shit." Lachesis gasped, turning around to look at my broken body.

"Let's get you back on your feet." She said as she placed and arm around my shoulder and helped me stand up. "Sorry about the friendly fire, I won't use discharge again. We need to get going before more—"

She stopped, then took a minute to catch her breath as the rain continued to pour down on us. Lachesis looked left and right before panicking a bit. For the entire time, she stood there in a worried expression with her arms around my shoulder.

 _Why_ _isn't she_ _moving?_

That's when I raised my head up and looked around. We were surrounded in a circle of Sevipers, seven of them in total. The worst part was comparing ourselves to them, they were big, strong and deadly with their poison. I guess this was what Cyrus experienced on that fateful night, feeling helpless against the humans and their guns. The genuine feeling of fear, regret and hopelessness. I'm pretty sure Lachesis could feel it too, because her eyes darted left right and centre. She was desperate to get out of this mess, and so was I. This was the first time I saw Lachesis so worried, so scared. She was like me, hopeless. Despite all of this, she still stood high. She always did. She was my hero, she was my lo... no... friend. A true heroine.

"I'm scared." I whispered to her, staring into her worried eyes. They stared back at me with a look of courage. Even in the darkest moments, her eyes always sparked with courage.

Lachesis smiled at me as if she was still trying to convince me that everything is under control.

"When I first met you, I made a promise that I'd always be with you until you're Serperior." She gulped. "I'll make sure that promise still stands strong."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Love and War**

A few months ago.

"I don't understand." Lachesis sighed before sitting next to me under a tree. "Why did you bother to drag me out here. We can see the stars just fine at the tree house."

I didn't reply, instead, I hesitated before taking a deep breath. We were lying in a grass plain at the bottom of a hill. The grass stretches on for miles and miles, and so did a small creek. When the wind blows, all the grass bends in one direction in a way similar to the domino effect. The night sky had clear skies and no moon, however that's not important. Tonight was a very important night for me. I was about to say the words, that I thought I would never say. I didn't want Lachesis to "judge" me, nor did I want to hold back the thoughts that have plagued me for so long. I had two options, either hold back and regret my decision for the rest of my life; or relieve myself from these tensions that I call my imagination. What do I have to lose?

"Lachesis—" I started, getting her attention. I twirled my fingers around while avoiding eye contact, my face contorted with embarrassment.

"Yeah?" She replied.

I had spent so much time with her, so much effort to make her feel the way I did. Her magnetising stare, her smooth elegant curves. But all this time, I never felt that I could match myself up to her. All this time, I felt my muscles tensing around her, my brain wires firing from her every touch. I knew it for so long, and I still rejected it but I wanted her like no other.

"...I l-love you." I manged to mumble out.

After a few moments of silence, a steady of wave emotions erupted from my chest.

What was I thinking? Holy shit, I actually just said that!

Lachesis paused for a second, before giving me a questionable expression. It was almost like she didn't hear me clearly. I immediately felt my heart sink. The feeling of denial sunk every thought.

Oh no. What have I done! She doesn't like me. Why did I even bother asking!

"Wait... what? What the fuck are you getting at here?!" She yelped, a slight blush rising to her face.

I gulped and hoped for the worst.

Despite trying to avoid eye contact, I couldn't take my eyes away from her. We stared into each others eyes for a while. The only thing that could be heard were the sounds of running water, the brushing sounds of grass and the constant drumming sounds of my heart. I was so excited, yet I was also too embarrassed to look at Lachesis. Lachesis stared at me with a reassuring look. There was something about her that I always liked, it was her outgoing personality...maybe even her looks.

"But... why now? Why did you... I-I just... what?!" She stuttered, blushing even more.

She then moved her paws gently down from her waist. Seizing this moment, I leaned in holding her hips; pulling her closer and closer. Now we were face to face, and chest to chest. Lachesis seemed uncertain, backing away slightly. Turning her head away from mine, neck totally exposed. Her breathing intensifying, sweat covered body dragging itself across mine. It was almost like she purposely allowed me...

I leaned in a bit more, before licking the beads of sweat on her neck. Softly biting her collar, hearing her groans getting louder and louder. Her body rubbing against mine like a drumbeat. Eyes that looked so innocent and vulnerable, staring deeply into my own; pushing me forward, unleashing every strand of raw emotion upon her body.

Her arms wrapped around me, their grip tightening on my muscles. A slight smile now came to her face, pleasure twisting her every action.

"Do you like to chew your toys too? Wait... no. Stop... I've had enough." She murmured, now pushing me away from her.

…

Was that just a joke, a tease? Does she not love me?

"...I-I-I." She mumbled before standing up and dusting herself off. "I...can't. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?" I asked, before sitting up with a worried expression. "Do you not like me?"

I felt shameful for forcing myself upon her like that, I just went and fucked it up. Just doing whatever the fuck I felt like doing, instead of letting her adjust and feel more secure. I treated her like a "toy".

"You did nothing wrong." She answered blankly. "I-I...like as well but I...I just can't."

She likes me. That's all I need to know.

Lachesis never told me why "she can't". Maybe because she doesn't want to relationship or maybe because she doesn't care. However, I'd imagine it to be something related to the war. It's her excuse for acting and doing things in a certain way.

"...do you want to know how I got here?" Lachesis said, trying to break the awkwardness by changing the topic. Usually, Lachesis wouldn't talk about anything. She wasn't good at starting conversations. She would only start a conversation, in order to change the subject or distract me from something.

"...yeah, sure."

"A'rite, let's get back to the house. I'll tell you a story."

We headed back up to the treehouse, the anticipation was gripping my stomach. This was my chance to know more about Lachesis. I didn't want to waste it. As soon as we got back, I tucked myself into bed; and sat up to face Lachesis. I was sure my eyes were sparkling, because she started right away as if I gave a "go for it" signal.

"I used to belong with the British Navy." She began. "One day a couple of us were sent to Asia to help with the war effort. We were sent onto one of the newly issued Chinese aircraft carriers patrolling the Pacific Ocean. I was there with my friend Isaac, he was a human and he was also my trainer. We were sent there because we were engineers. Isaac was good with the wiring and all the complicated stuff, while I was good at fitting into small gaps and tightening up the bolts." She sighed, face contorted with emotion.

"One day we went into combat, there was cannon fire everywhere and the smell of fuel lingered for hours on end. Isaac and I worked hard, keeping the planes in check. In the end, our fleet got destroyed and we were the last remaining ship. The Japanese boarded our ship and tried to hijack it because we destroyed one of their aircraft carriers. I saw men get impaled by bayonets, I heard their screams of mercy, and I saw the blood that dyed the ocean red. Twenty of us were taken as prisoners of war. For the next year or so, it was an endless struggle of slavery, pain, torture, whipping and horror for me. They made me lift a bucket full of lead 500 times each morning and if I failed, I would get whipped 500 times." She continued.

A single tear ran down her face, a genuine look of pain that no longer knew of its own existence.

"I kept myself alive for many months until the day that I could no longer lift the bucket. I was so weak and skinny that I didn't even have the energy to speak. I expected myself to get whipped, but instead... one of the guards gave me his gun and asked me to shoot Isaac. Isaac was in no better condition, he was just like me, only weaker. Of course, I didn't shoot Isaac. He was my friend and I loved him. So I turned around and shot the guard. However, the gun wasn't loaded. It only gave out a faint click. The guard smiled, he then snatched the gun off me. He then loaded the gun, and shot Isaac right in front of me. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. The guard picked me up and took me into a shed. He then... viola-violated me... and—"

Lachesis stopped talking, she took a deep breath in before concluding her sentence.

"...He expected to kill me in the process, but I survived. When I woke up, I found myself in a pile of dead bodies outside their camp. For the next year, I roamed around hitching rides on cars and ships; until I got back to the country that Isaac came from. Which was here."

Lachesis waited a while, she probably expected some questions from me, such as "what is an aircraft carrier?". Yet nothing came from me.

"...Are you even listening!?" Lachesis said, turning around.

I was asleep, lying in bed. I never had the patience to listen.

"...at least your mouth is shut." She murmured.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get what I wanted. In the end, I screwed up my opportunity to listen to Lachesis's story properly; as I fell asleep in mere minutes. But all in all, I was happy with the outcomes; but it left so much room for regret.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: The girl who refused...**

"Do you think you can run?" She whispered, her anxious stuttering could be heard from a mile away followed by an occasional gulp. Her eyes darted around in circles, expecting some sort of miracle to happen. But we both knew that the "miracle" we were searching for would never come into our little hands.

 _Two... four... five Sevipers._

"Probably." I said, looking around, still trying to stand up by myself. "Can't you just shoot them?"

Lachesis took a deep breath in before staring at me with a confident expression. "I've only got 4 shots left, I don't think I could shoot all four of them without at least one of them attacking."

"Shit..." I mumbled, as endless drops of bitter rain continued to pour of us.

The rain poured down on us relentlessly, the dirt mixing up with the fresh new mud. Everything felt quiet, everything felt wrong; an inordinate danger that I had never encountered before. Time just seemed to slow down, and the Sevipers mouths opened wide; their long fangs exposed and totally visible. And at the same time, they slithered from side to side, digging their bodies into the mud.

"DOWN!" Lachesis screamed, spit flying from her mouth.

Everything seemed like slow motion as I felt myself dropping to the ground with Lachesis. A few vibrant scales brushed past my face. I was able to get a quick glance at their crimson red fangs, their deadly blade like tails and the infamous yellow patterns and scars. One after another, the Sevipers leaped at us. The fifth one leapt at me with lighting speed, its tail dragging behind it.

I dodged the Seviper, but its tail swerved in front of me; venomous blade ready to strike. Before it could hit us, Lachesis jumped onto the Seviper's nape and electrocuted it. Sparks flew everywhere, she then punched it in the face. Only to graze it slightly. Instead of a yelp of surprise; a crackle of anger hissed from the Seviper's throat. Although it noticed the punch, it was only a feint. When the second punch collided, the Seviper doubled over with fractures and blood dripping from its oversized fangs. She then proceeded to further electrocute the Seviper into submission. Shortly, a loud thud echoed when she brought the creature down to the earth.

"Fuck all of you!" She yelled, gasping and panting under the rain.

She lifted her pistol up, before pulling the trigger. There was a loud bang, followed by the collision of flesh; with blood spurting from the hole in one of the Seviper's heads. Lachesis lurched forward, delivering a series of bolts one after another. The trees moaned with the endless beating of her fists, electric bolts and the sound of hissing. A Seviper sneaked up from behind, swiping its glowing blade like tail across Lachesis's back, sending her flying into a tree.

"Lachesis," I yelled, muscles flaring from pain. "fuck... get away from her."

From out of nowhere, a tail swung at my chest. I dipped out of the way, before whipping the serpent away. I quickly drew and slashed upwards with scalchop, a shower of guts and blood poured down onto my face. There was another roar from the bushes, as the next Seviper erupted from the shadows. Its body weaved left and right through the wet mud, its lighting fast movement seemed impossible to keep up with. I flinched and held my hands out to block the attack, and found myself gripping onto the fangs of the serpent. The Seviper's weight was so overwhelming that the mud didn't give me any footing. I was then pulled off my feet violently and thrown across the forest floor. I skidded and tumbled along the ground, uncontrolled. I was stopped by the trunk of a tree. A groan escaped my lips as the pain from the attack started setting in. However, pain was last thing on my mind as there was something else that was far more important. Lachesis.

Lachesis was also on the ground, a huge gaping cut mark on her arm and her back. Getting a hold of herself, she shot aimlessly at one of the Sevipers. In an instant, it dodged; and instead hit the one behind it. It sent its lifeless body sprawling down to the ground. She shot again, however, she missed... The Seviper leaped in and bit into her wing-like flaps, blood running down the serpent's jaw.

"LACHESIS!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I sprinted towards her direction.

 _No...not like this. This can't happen!_

However, the Seviper that flung me across the dirt stopped me right in my tracks. It raised its tail, before bringing it down with tremendous speed. I felt the sharp pain of a blade piercing my stomach. All I could do was spew out blood as the blade pushed further and further into me. I quickly reached behind me, searching for something... anything. Before I knew it, I had grabbed hold of a stick; I wrapped one vine around the nape of the Seviper and pulled it in close, I then stabbed the stick deep into one of its eyes. I barely managed to get out alive, I was left with a writhing body jerking and shaking. The Seviper fell to the ground with a tremendous splash.

I saw Lachesis's gun on the ground, then I saw Lachesis; the Seviper still latched onto her wing-like flaps. In an attempt to grab the gun, I made a run for it. However, before I could pick it up, I felt a tail coil around my waist; I felt myself get lifted into the air by the Seviper who had Lachesis impaled it its fangs, and get slammed continuously against the ground. From the very edges of my frantic vision, I could see Lachesis getting flung up and getting impaled again by the Seviper's fang. This time it was in her chest; but Lachesis didn't stop, instead she inched herself up its fang, closer and closer. I could see her opening up the serpents mouth, its gaping jaws getting bigger and bigger. The Seviper struggled to move, it was desperately trying to get her out of there; but it was all to late. There was the sound of twisting then the sound of muscles tearing and finally a powerful electric shock that I was even able to feel. Soon, everything went silent except for the sound of a Seviper falling to the ground. A loud soulless thump.

Despite the roaring sound of rain, everything felt silent and... cold.

 _Was it over?_

For a while, I could hear nothing but the weak rapid drumming of my heart. The only thing that I could feel was the endless agonising pain that ached around my waist. My mind couldn't distract it self from the pain as it constantly promoted me to scream and yell.

"AHHH!" Lachesis screamed as she pulled herself out of the fang.

Even though I had my eyes closed and I was barely conscious. I was able to see...to feel Lachesis's pain. The wounds...the fractures...the punctures...the blood. Despite all of this, she still managed to pull herself up onto her feet and limped her way towards me.

"Hey, k-kid." She stuttered before coughing and gaging out a mouth full of blood. She put on a fake smile before pulling me out under the Seviper. "Come on, kid. Let's get y-you out of there."

I didn't reply, I couldn't reply. I was too weak to move, to speak, to listen or to think. The pain continued to overwhelm my mind. I was scared...everything felt cold but...peaceful.

* * *

I didn't know how long I passed out but I awoke to the sound of laughter, a creepy tone of laughter.

 _Where am I?_

"Just laugh the pain away..." Lachesis howled as she continuous tries to make herself laugh. "It doesn't hurt... Just keep on laughing."

There we laid against the hulking trunk of a tree. The rain had stopped and the stars once again appeared. Gentle winds could be heard howling along with the trees. We were tired, and wet. The mud covering our wounds, dirtying our poisoned blood.

I gradually opened my eyes, only to see two rivers of blood, trailed across the mud before puddling beneath us. Most of the blood was Lachesis's. Off into the distance, there lingered five dead Sevipers.

"Lachesis." I murmured, trying to stand up only to get pulled down by my own weight.

"Huh?" She said before stopping her laughter and turning her head ever so slightly to face me. "You're awake?"

It was then, I felt my heart sink to the very bottom. She looked...dreadful, she was completely covered in her own blood, not a single spec of soft white fur could been seen on her body. She had so much blood on her, that all her fur crested downwards. Two giant holes were also visible on her body; one was on her right wing-like flap and the other one was barely underneath her chest. You could practically see through her. She laid stationary, panting and gasping... I'd never felt this awful in my entire life because deep down in my heart, I knew that she was dying. She was holding onto what little life she still had. The worst part was the aftertaste, feeling of loneliness and how I could do nothing to save her. The only thing I could do was watch.

 _I don't want to lose her! Please not again... I don't want to be alone again..._

After everything that we've been through...all the good and bad times. I wished we could've spent more time together...Lachesis deserved better.

"Lachesis." I groaned, sniffing a bit, still lying against the tree. "Are you—"

"I don't want to scare you, kid—" She interrupted before coughing out another mouth full of blood. "—you should probably look down at yourself."

Slowly, I tilted my head down and suddenly I felt my heart jump. All the pain suddenly hit me all at once. A couple of lumps were present on my chest, with a deep cut around my waist. Purple venom oozed out of the gaping wound. My hands were covered in cuts, traces of venom was also present. Every time I took a breath, my chest would ache under the pressure of my broken ribs. I was...broken.

Like Lachesis, a wave of uncontrollable blood poured from my mouth and into the puddle. Now I was able to feel what Lachesis was feeling.

 _The agonising pain, the endless agonising pain. It won't stop. It hurts, it hurts so much._

My flesh twitched, yelled and begged for an end.

"Can you feel the venom clawing through your veins?" Lachesis said before punching the ground in frustration. "Achh...is it okay to say that I don't want to die?"

"It hurts!" I cried, my tears mixing in with all the blood. "It hurts! Please let it stop..."

I kicked, I cried, I clenched my teeth and I flailed my arms around. I begged for mercy, but I didn't get any. It was then that I realise that I was in no better condition then Lachesis. A wave of thoughts started popping up; thoughts like what happens when you die, will it be like sleeping?

I wasn't too sure what happened next, though I probably passed out from all the pain. After all, I'm not used to this kind of torture. When I woke up, I found myself leaning against Lachesis. Despite her fur being covered in blood, she still felt warm and cosy. Avoiding my wound, she gently rubbed my stomach to comfort me. I guess it was her way of apologising to me. I know how she felt, she knew she failed to protect me, she knew she failed her promise. She knew she let someone as young as me die. However, one thing she succeed in was putting my wellbeing above her own. We're experiencing the same pain, the same final moments; but she took the liberty of trying to make my last few gasps of life more peaceful and painless.

"I don't want to die." Lachesis gently whispered to herself while gazing up into the stars. "I guess Arceus could call me 'the girl who refused to die'."

"Ach! I-I can't breathe." She gagged before tilting her head sideways and coughing out another wave of blood. "How am I still alive? I guess Arceus hates me."

Like Lachesis, I was so weak that breathing became a difficult task. A wheezing sound could be heard when I breathed out.

I now know what it felt like to achieve an end, an end to life. Three years ago, I begged for this day to come, I begged for an ending. I'm not sure if I could say the same thing tonight. Was I happier than the day I lost my loved ones? I can't really answer that. What I do know, is that I'll be in a peaceful place; and I'll once again see mother, Cyrus and Lachesis. I failed to find my dad, but it doesn't matter. He didn't care about me anyway.

"Lachesis." I whispered, getting her attention. I stared into her eyes in fear, and like always, she stared back at me with courage. "I'm scared. I can hear church bells, I could hear the sound of the forest again. I can hear a melody."

"So could I, kid." Lachesis replied, still rubbing my belly. "I guess it's alright. I guess that's the forest's melody."

"Lachesis." I said, occasionally gasping for air. "I'm tired. I c-can't breath."

"Then go to sleep. I'll wake you up on the other side."

"You-you promise that you'll be there?"

"Since when have I ever lied to you. Of course I'll be there." She said in a hopeful tone.

And with that said, I took a final yawn and closed my eyes. Despite being scared of what I'd find on the other side, I somehow felt better having Lachesis by my side. She guided me through my life, she guided me till the very end. I just wish I could repay the favour some day, she deserves better. She deserves better because she wasted her life on me. That night, we feel asleep in each others arms with a smile across our faces.

"I'm sorry Matthew, I failed you. Maybe I'll come back someday. Please forgive me... I-love you."

She lied to me.

* * *

 _You will never leave this place. There is no way home, for I am not done with you yet. Now I stand, the king_ _before the lands... and they do not fear... they cannot fear._

 _This, is my land, you want to stay? You'll stay here forever, I'm gonna_ _bury you here._

* * *

 _Huh? Where am I?_

I gradually opened my eyes, only to be greeted by the blinding light of the morning sun. It yawned and flickered as it rose up from its grave. Despite the exposure of the sun, my skin didn't react to it's burning sensation. The only sensation that I could feel, was aching pain around my waist and the crumbling thirst that lingered in my mouth.

 _Am I dead?_

I tilted my head down to take a look my hands, they were covered in dried blood and dirt. A gentle breeze blew past my face, it somehow managed to make my eyes open wide. However, I somehow was not able to see very clearly. The world was all tinted... grey. Everything seemed quite and silent... there was nothing to be heard, not even the leaves when they were blown by the wind.

I looked around in hope of finding answers, but there was no one around. I called out but no one replied, no one ever replied. There was nothing but the sound of silence. I tilted my head left and right, hoping to find something or someone. Instead I found two trails of dried blood pointing in my direction. In the end, I did not find the answers that I was searching for. Instead, the only things I did find were the five dead Sevipers in the distance. Their bodies were all grey and pale, most of their eyes were open and cloudy.

"The Sevipers...huh." I said, smiling a bit. "They did put up a good fight..."

 _Fight...fight...wait a minute._

 _Lachesis!_

My head sprung into action, only to find that I wasn't leaning against a tree... I was leaning against the solid cold body of an Emolga. I immediately felt my eyes widen and my heart sink. A wave of uncontrollable thoughts, flooded out all the pain. Time just stopped for me, I sat in silence as I tried to convince myself that she was alive. But all the unnecessary convincing was futile, the facts hit hard. She was dead. Dirt mixed with her dried blood... everywhere, her eyes were cloudy, her ears no longer pointed upwards. The two giant holes in her body never clotted.

"Lachesis please!" I yelled, gripping onto her as tight as I could. "You can't do this to me! You can't! I don't want to lose you! I don't want to be...alone."

I was too familiar with the feeling of loss. That no amount of words could describe it anymore.

"Is this what you want to see Arceus?! Do you want to see the children that you've created perish in front of you! Do you even care for your own children?!" I screamed at the top lungs while clinging onto Lachesis's fur.

I hugged her, clung to her; my heart was racing. And yet, I felt... NOTHING. My mother, was murdered and skinned like a wild animal. My brother shot in front of me. And now, Lachesis... sacrificing her life for a worthless fuck like me.

"Why do I always have to be left alone, broken!"

"Why does everything have to go against me..."

"Why do I always have to live?"

"Why..."

Since when was I the one in control?

* * *

Up and up the mountain I went. I didn't know how I managed to push myself to walk forward. Luck, I guess. The Mauser holstered onto my sheath, scalchop always at the ready. A large rock stood in my way, the path was blocked. I hesitated, looking around me for something... anything.

"Everything just had to be in my way." I muttered.

In the end, I just climbed over it before enduring a tough landing.

I kept on climbing the mountain, the pale colour of the sky no longer mattered to me. Nothing hurt, so nothing mattered. When nothing matters, you just do whatever you were told to do last. In this case, reach the top of the mountain. Find dad, find the one you "want" to see.

 _Don't be too disappointed..._

"No... there's nothing to be disappointed about."

* * *

The top of the mountain. I sat down, there wasn't much. Just an endless body of water that lurked beneath it. I certainly earned it, the enthusiasm, the bravery... all for this. I got what I deserved, for being so STUPID. Now Lachesis lay dead, and all I gained was nothing but pure bullshit. I never felt so betrayed because only then I realised the honest truth. Cyrus told me that my father was located beyond the mountain because he didn't want to hurt my feelings. Lachesis, despite knowing what's over the mountain, she didn't want me to loose hope so she came with me. I never realised the uncertainty that my dad will be here waiting for me. I lived a lie for my entire life, in the end, everything was pointless. I was right all along.

"Don't be disappointed about what you'll find over the mountains."

I looked out into the horizon, so bright compared to the looming darkness below me. The ocean, reflecting the fluorescent orange colour that was a sun set. I sighed with a hint of relief, for there was nothing else to do; I could just stay there and rest.

* * *

 _Well... If dad really cared about me... then he would stop what I'm about to do next._

As the glittering sun sets beneath the dark blue ocean a final time. Slowly, I drifted my body across the empty beach, across the soft sand. I took one step, two steps. I was in, ready to begin a whole new journey.

"If you really cared about me, dad." I whispered to myself, while the strong ocean winds and waves silenced every word. "Then you should have never left us. If you can hear me, then I want you to know this. I fucking hate you."

I swam, my body embraced the cold water. The light getting dimmer and dimmer as I continued to swim towards the endless horizon. The more I gave, the less I got. The endless tide crashed down on me over and over again. I swam and I swam until my muscles started to cramp, and my skin started to fade into another shade of green.

Soon, I couldn't feel anything. I was sinking slowly into my watery grave. My body eventually drifted below the surface, as I took a final breath in. I watched the moon light fade away from me as everything started to wither before my eyes. The world crumbled away with no hesitation and certainly, no regrets. This was the ending that I wanted as there was nothing else for me to do.

 _Some things in this world were meant to be left undiscovered, I should have listened. I guess I'll see you on the other side._

As I slowly fell to the bottom of the ocean, the same gentle tune could be heard playing in my head. The tune that I used to call "The Forest's Melody".

THE END.

* * *

 **Congrats, you've finished the story.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Beyond the story**

 _Am I dead? Is it finally over?_

"Let's get you home buddy." A familiar gentle voice called. The sound of footsteps shifting through the sand, the rustling sound of leaves and the waves could be heard.

Despite being awake, I was so tired that I couldn't even open my eyes. However, I was able to feel the warm familiar comforting fur wrapped around my body. I managed to open eyes just for a glimpse, but it wasn't enough to make anything out of.

"I see you came a long way." The voice said again as the sound of the beach faded away. "Huh. You're a bit...broken as well."

Every few moments the voice would make a comment or a remark, he sounded so familiar that it prompted me to open my eyes every once in a while.

 _He sounded like...like..._

I didn't know how long I'd slept, but I awoke to the sound of floor boards creaking. I seemed to be lying in a pile of neatly folded clothes in a... treehouse. Lachesis's treehouse. My eyes darted around, questioning my very existence.

 _There was no way I could lived through that..._ _how am I...nothing makes sense._

Everything looked the same, the drying rack, the wooden table, the book shelf and the window that allowed the moon light to light up the place. The only difference was that everything was covered in a thin layer of dust, and Lachesis wasn't there. However, what was there was a looming silhouette standing right in front of me. A silhouette of a Dewott. He had his back facing me as he slowly walked towards the trap door. The further he got away from me, the more he and his surroundings faded away.

"Cyrus?" I said, trying to stand up. My body refused to take any commands. "Is that you?"

He didn't reply, he just continued to walk towards the trap door. He then started to lift it up.

"Cyrus." I said again. "You forgot something."

He then stopped and swung his head toward direction.

"You forgot your scalchop." I said, pointing towards my sheath that was leaning against the wall. "Remember? The scalchop you gave me before you—"

Cyrus smiled at me before snatching it off the sheath.

"Thanks." He replied.

Before he could walk over to the trap door, I stopped him.

"Why do you have to leave?" I asked. "Why can't you take me with you?"

Cyrus took a deep breath in and sighed, he knelt down in front of me as if he was going to confess something.

"Because you are my brother." He said with a smile. "You are braver than this. You can conquer anything. You don't need me."

"But I-I. I feel so alone. Everyone I love is-is gone. I'm happy with you guys."

Cyrus giggled a bit before shaking his head.

"You don't have to be happy in order to feel joy." He said, rubbing my head with his paw like he always did. "I want you to understand that I'll always care for you, even if I'm not there."

"But-but I."

"Remember what mother used to say?" Cyrus interrupted. "A rainbow does not come without rain."

"But there has only been rain for me!" I argued while trying to sit up.

"You'll see. You'll see one day." Cyrus said as he stood up. "The effort you put in is what you'll get out."

He then began making his way to the trapdoor again.

"...brother." I started. "Are you real? Are you one of those lies?"

"No... I am one of those truths."

When he finished his sentence, everything just collapsed. It was like watching pieces of glass getting blown away by the wind. I started to feel faint, my tiring body overwhelming my senses. Then, everything just...turned off.

"Where's my happy ending? The more I give, the more... I get." I murmured, slowly drifting off into a dreamy state.

* * *

Weeks later.

There I was, polishing the barrel of the Mauser; back to step one. I spent the last few days cleaning up the treehouse, slowly falling back into a state of normality, my broken arm and the wounds did not make it easy for me. For some reason, I didn't have any nightmares of Lachesis. I just somehow managed to push her out of my head, or maybe I just didn't want to think about her. What remained of Lachesis was the taste of guilt in my mouth, and I wanted to ignore it for as long as possible. As for Cyrus...I couldn't even explain what happened. He was there one second and now he's not...

As I was cleaning the Mauser, I heard the ruffling sounds of paws running across the forest bed, the burnt leaves ruffling under their weight.

I looked out the window, there were Pokémon running about like giddy idiots.

 _At least the forest's residences are coming back again. I wonder where they all hid?_

I climbed down from the tree house, landing softly in a heap of dead grass. I then proceeded to prompt them to leave as I wanted some "alone time".

"Desecration... mongrels. Do you know the definition of respect?" I yelled, trying to shoo them off.

There in front of me stood a Treecko, a Chimchar and a Floatzel. The same bloody bullies from a couple of years ago, it's good to see the Buizel evolved. There was a shocked look on their faces, they probably thought I was dead or thought that I was dying. Laying on the ground in front of them was a Snivy, the same one from three years ago. The Snivy was bruised and battered, her body twitching from pain.

 _How the fuck did they survive the onslaught of the humans?_

"You! You're that mongrel... from three years ago. Lachesis's bitch. My you've grown. So are you going to call for that whore to save you again? Get out of our tree house!" The Buizel taunted.

I looked at them carefully, making sure it was them before rolling my eyes.

"Unlike Lachesis, I'm not very forgiving of idiots who decide to invade my space." I said simply, slight smirk etching onto my face.

I instantly pulled out my Mauser, a big toothy grin also apparent now.

"Holy shit! He's got a gun. Run for it! Just leave Nattily!" Screamed the Treecko, spit flying in all directions.

 _Good to see that they know what a gun is_.

I watched as the three of them quickly bolted for it. Even then, I could have shot them so easily. I walked on over to the Snivy. In the time that her "friends" had run for it, she had made her way under a tree.

"My, my... you've grown haven't you?" I asked, blank expression covering my face.

The Snivy looked up at me, tears rolling down her face.

"You've clearly grown, but judging by their stupidity... your friends haven't. So then, now that we're done here; why don't you pick yourself up and go back to where you came from."

"I d-don't want to go home. They'll just k-keep beating on me. I don't want to go back to them. My parents—and— Please help—"

"Not my problem." I replied, cutting her off instantly. "I don't think the little red and white magical balls you speak of could possibly contain something as big as a Serperior. Go home."

I climbed back up the treehouse and placed the Mauser back on the table. After thirty minutes or so, the sobbing continued; and it also started raining.

After a while, the crying stopped; and I found myself staring out the window, down at the lonesome Snivy who was camping on my "front lawn".

"Even now you test me..." I sighed, "I know how you feel now, Lachesis."

I jumped down from the trapdoor, landing neatly next to the Snivy.

"Nattily I assume, right? I could use an assistant, you know... a companion. It gets quite lonely when your living by yourself, I need a friend and you need a home. To be honest, I kinda feel bad for you. Plus it's a win, win situation for me. I'd rather see you cry as a Serperior than a Snivy." I said, without a shadow of a doubt.

There was no response. I looked down the snoring Snivy...who was apparently snoring away.

"...for fuck sake." I sighed.

I wrapped the Snivy in my vines and pulled her onto my back before ascending back up the treehouse.

 _We're going to have a long journey ahead of us._

* * *

 **Hey there! I hope you have enjoyed the story. There will be more chapters coming in the future but I cannot guarantee when they'll be out. After all, progress is slow. If you have any suggests, spotted any errors, or want to share your support, please contact me through private messaging, review the story, or keep favourite it. Thanks for your time.**

 **Special thanks to Micah Debrink for beta reading for me. Go and check him out, he is a cool dude who writes awesome stories. My personal favorite is "The Pokémon Manifesto".**

 **Special thanks to my personal friends (I call him) Pickolo** **(not Piccolo)** **and Schneider for editing the story for me. They do not have a fanfiction account, nor they ever will.**

 **I cannot stress how much I need to thank these two magnificent people. They volunteered their time and effort to make this story great. Go, pat yourself on the back for them.**


	14. Background Information and Concepts

**Background Information and concepts**

 **Summary of the story (in case any of you missed anything).**

The story is set during the time period of 1936 to 1939. One night a young Snivy (named Matthew) asked his brother (a Dewott named Cyrus) to take him to see the city lights. A day after, Matthew saved a man who later killed his brother and mother in front of his very own eyes. Fretting for his life, he ran away before attempting suicide. However, before he could "end it all", an Emolga (named Lachesis) prevented his death. Lachesis, feeling sorry for Matthew, decides to take care of him. During a 3 year period, Lachesis defended Matthew from bullies, taught him how to take care of himself, explored different places and provide compensation for Matthew's mental trauma. One day (1939), Matthew decides to go find his missing father because he wants a family member to be around to care for him. Matthew asks Lachesis to come with him, Lachesis first denies but later decides to join Matthew on his adventure. Throughout this adventure, the two characters are harassed by human hunters, Sevipers and haunting memories. In the end, the Sevipers that stalked them ended up attacking them because they were hungry. Matthew was the only character who made it out alive. Shortly, he attempted to commit suicide again. This time he succeeded...to a certain extent.

As for chapter 13. Yes, it's an epilogue. For those of you who follows/read my other stories should understand "this chapter". For those who don't understand chapter 13 or haven't read any of my other stories; Nattily later (10 or 20 years) becomes Matthew's wife/mate/lover. The couple gave birth to 2 children (Snivies, duh), named Juno and Vaeliph. It's sweet that Matthew finds love in the end, heartwarming.

 **Moral**

My opinion is that a song or a story is much more better when you know the meaning behind it.

It's very clear that the story is not about the "physical adventure" that the characters embark on. The story was more about the psychological and mental adventure that the characters go through. Matthew started off weak but over time, he has become more "courageous" and is able to move on from his losses. For example, chapter 13. He was able to "move on" after Lachesis's death.

In context, Matthew is an inspiration for us the audience. Someone we could look up to, a role model. Matthew may have his ups and downs through but keep in my mind, no one is perfect. He genuinely represents that, "no matter how much you get beaten to the ground, you will always get back up again. Not because you want to, but because you have to".

 **Theme(s)**

Now, because there are so many themes that could be taken into context, I'll only outline the themes that I believe were the most important.

One of the themes is the importance of cherishing what you love before it's too late. For example, Matthew didn't particularly like his mother (seen in chapter 1) because she is overly protective. However, when she was killed, Matthew's attitude towards his mother changed. It puzzles me that many people in this world have controversy with their friends and family. I genuinely tried to emphasize how people should be grateful for what they have.

Another important theme is the idea that everyone has a limit. Matthew is a naïve character, throughout the story he constantly requires guidance and assistance from other characters one way or another. If you think about it, without Cyrus he wouldn't have a role model to compare himself to. Without Lachesis, Mathew would have killed himself or hurt himself many times. In a nut shell, I was trying to outline the importance of seeking help or making friends because you can't get through life alone. There would be too many obstacles, potentially overwhelming you.

 **Character names and meanings**

Lachesis - Meaning "apportioner" in Greek and was one of the three Fates in Greek mythology. She was responsible for deciding how long each person had to live.

Cyrus - A Greek name which means "prudent (which means caring)" or "young".

Matthew – The Greek form of a name which meant "The gift from god".

 **What was the inspiration (character) for Matthew and Cyrus?**

Their inspiration came from my play through of Pokemon Black AND white during 2011. Both of them represented the starters that I picked, either in black or white. Five years later, I decided to take the liberty and put the two characters in a story and bring them to life in the "imaginary realm". Another inspiration for these two characters came from a personal friend of mine, Matthew and Cyrus have strikingly simular personalities to him.

*I know you are reading this and you're probably going crazy, you know who you are.*

 **Matthew's and Cyrus's father, who is he?**

Do be honest, as the author, I don't even have the answer for that question. When Pickolo and I were designing the plot, we never thought of introducing Matthew's/Cyrus's father. The reason being is because it was unnecessary. Why bother introducing a character that plays practically no important role in a story? I mean, he was a motivation for Matthew but by no means was he important. In a nutshell, the idea of Matthew's/Cyrus's father was so under developed that he doesn't even have a name yet. His concept is so vague that he literally could be anything or anyone…which means it is safe to assume that Cyrus is adopted or Cyrus is Matthew's father. However, I couldn't confirm any of this because I haven't explored the idea yet.

 **Out of all the characters that you could have created/picked to guide Matthew, why Lachesis?**

Let's be real here, tell me how many times have you read about a female character who doesn't actively play a "explicit" role on this website? I do understand that I somethings "tease" the audience, however, the "tease" is only "imagined" in Matthew's point of view. Lachesis was a character who proves that gender doesn't impact on one's thoughts and capability. You don't really see female characters putting their life at risk for their male counter parts on this website. Lachesis's concept breaks the exceptional and stereotypical roles of female characters. Emolga's may look cute, innocent and weak but looks does not define Lachesis.

Lachesis was originally supposed to be a male human named Isaac, however, we quickly realised that "Isaac" was going to be a boring character so we scrapped the idea completely. His character was later referenced as Lachesis's friend in chapter 11 and the young man that appears in the photo the Matthew finds in chapter 4. We then explored the idea that Lachesis is a mother with 2 children and has a partner (husband). Matthew would be adopted by them. However, simular with Isaac, we realised that their character concept would be too boring and wouldn't play any important roll in the story.

 **Why kill Lachesis, why kill the character that we all love?**

The answer is simple. This isn't a fairy tale nor is this a simple stroll in the park. The reason why we "shipped" Lachesis and Matthew a bit was to pave the way for the emotional pain when Lachesis dies. In a nutshell, killing Lachesis was a last ditch effort to promote the audience to feel some sort of emotional pain.

 **Where is the story set?**

I mean, I don't have an answer to that either. However, I did reference Australia a couple of times. Such as when Cyrus says; "I'll back hand you back to Box Hill". Regarding the date that I set the story in, I set it near the beginning of world war 2. The reason why was because the famous equation (e = mc^2) that lead to the invention of the Pokeball and the atomic bomb was not around yet. I didn't want to include any Pokeballs in this story as I believe it ruins the "immersion" that I was trying to achieve.

Who is the phantom girl, seen in chapter 10?

Figure that out yourself, there's enough hints in the story to point you in the right direction.

 **Unused ideas**

Due to the fact there are so many ideas that were never used, I'll list them in dot point format.

\- Matthew was suppose to turn into a psychopath.

\- Matthew was suppose to kill Lachesis.

\- The flute was suppose to play a more important role in this story.

\- There was suppose to be a "adult scene" (some like to call it lemons) between Matthew, Lachesis and Nattily. However, we decided it'll ruin the story and I was not comfortable enough to write something like that.

\- Chapter 13 was suppose to be a scene were Matthew (as a Serperior) is playing with his children. The reason why we changed it was because thought it was too "cheesy/boring".

\- Lachesis wasn't suppose to die, I'm not lying. She was supposed to come back 30 years later, being happy for Matthew that he now has his own family. The reason why we killed her was because we had to keep this story as tragic as possible.

 **Staff**

KeepItM – Author

Micah Debrink – No.1 Beta Reader

Pickolo – No.1 Editor

Schneider - No.2 Editor and No.2 Beta reader

These people are awesome, btw, go check out Micah Debrink and his stories.

 **Special Thanks To:**

quackattack222

Yattaro

Vixal

Player 1000

FrenziedLegion

For those of you who followed this story from 08/02/2016 to 06/08/2016, you guys are awesome. You followed this journey so long, I hope you have enjoyed our moments together.

 **Author's Opinion:** "This was the best story that I have ever written. It took 9 months and 4 people to write. Though, it was shameful that Lachesis died. It was also shameful that so many ideas were never used, but in the end. I'm proud of this story, I'm proud of "The Forest's Melody".

All I could really say is, thank all of you. I'm not just referring to the staff, I'm also referring to the viewers. Without your support, the story would not have been this good."

 **Editor's Opinion (Pickolo):** "Honestly, I was not absorbed into the work that I set myself; and found myself side tracking to different tasks. In the end, I enjoyed help writing up the final fight scene. Though it was incredibly annoying because KeepItM decided to rush the final few chapters out and his grammar dropped dead to the ground.

As for the characters, I found that I did not enjoy Blyth's character at all, as I find naïve people incredibly annoying. Most of the time, I found the crying infuriating; as it happened every few minutes or so. I found that Lachesis was just lonely female with no life, and a rape victim.

I also found it quite annoying working with KeepItM, as he never actually set out the story completely, and changed it every once in a while. I do understand that he does this in order to fix up plot holes and make the story better, but it's hard keep up with the changes. Though I do appreciate him listening to my ideas and consideration whether it would fit into the story. In fact, he took most of my advices. This project took us, I believe 8 months to make. To be honest, this story turned out WAY better than what I expected.

The one problem that I couldn't get out of my head was that the story was a fanfiction of Pokemon. As a person who never played or watched the series, I found challenging when editing. But, in the end, I got the job done."

 **Micah Debrink's (beta reader) Opinion:** "The Forest's Melody" is the anti-fairy tale. It is a painful representation of the cycle of life, in a very real world that is so pointlessly hostile and unforgiving. It demonstrates the harm of feeding "fairy-tales" into the minds of children, told to them just so their feelings wouldn't be hurt.

It is surprising how little Matthew's mission to find his father actually succeeded; as if it was a distant, totally impossible fantasy. It acts as a parallel to our own lives: so many wild and wonderful dreams, we have. We know they can never be accomplished.

And yet hints of the dream, the soft tune of the forest's melody, come to tempt us, make us wish for that dream, make our mouths water as they fill with blood. The story is as beautiful and thought-provoking as it is tragic."

* * *

I guess that's all. See you all next time! Also, if you cried or nearly cried please write a review and let me know. If any of you decides to draw artwork reguarding this story, you're awesome, also, let me know. :)

~ KeepItM 06/08/2016

* * *

"Lachesis? What a beautiful name..."

"What? You want a second chance?"

"Begging cannot get you anywhere."

…

"You say you want to be an Audino?"

"Save lives you say? I'll think about it."


	15. Short: Locals

**Anything beyond this point is a series of short stories of other characters in the story. My primary goal for these shorts is to add some detail that I couldn't fit into the main story. I will also be trying out many different writing styles inspired by many different authors. These styles include, abstract, detailed, "iceberg theory", philosophical and etc. In other words, I'm experimenting with literacy skills.**

 **Perspectives, setting and time will change and will be advised at the beginning of each short.**

 **Familiar characters include:**

Matthew and Cryus's parents.

 **Important information to remember for this short:** Events occurred before Cyrus and Matthew's birth

* * *

 ** _Locals_**

When they first arrived, the young couple were conscious about their surroundings. The large patches of grass, the grand lakes and tree tops were all teeming with life; some old, some young and some were still in their cozy eggs. Just like the young couple, they were all Pokemon, not a single human can be seen in the forest. Yet, the couple felt like they were merely just visitors in this foreign land. Despite that, they still ended up choosing a small area in which they're able to call "home". "Next door", up above, lived a large nest of Pidgeots and "on the right" lived a old Seviper with a broken heart and spirit.

The couple's living area was relatively small in contrast, but it was able to offer enough berry bushes to feed both of them and supply plentiful trees to keep them warm in rain, and cool during the constant baking of the sun. When the couple walked out of their "area", the neighbors would praise the young male Dewott and his lover, an elegant Servine, for their releationship; and yet the neighbors still remain cautious about the young couple's relationship.

 _Why would anyone fall in love with a species in a different egg group? Good luck having children..._

The Dewott and the Servine had lived their lives within the of comforts human arms, where other Pokemon are seen but never heard. A quiet and peaceful surrounding. The constant sounds of chirping and wings flapping from the Pidgeots next door came as a shock. The Pidgeot family sang, chirped, screeched and occasionally pecked at each others necks; similar to an act of aggression. It took a good couple of months for the young couple to realize that the Pidgeots aren't murdering each other, and their behavior is a way of showing love. As for the old Seviper, he spent most of his day collecting berries, dried grass and sticks. Each day, he added more and more resources to his"collection". Despite gathering all these resources, he never actually uses/eats it.

Relations were uncomfortable for many months. The Pidgeots raised their eyebrows at the late hour which the young couple awoke in the mornings, while the old Seviper gave disapproval to the Dewott as he stayed at "home" and played his flute that he brought along with him when they arrived here, while his lover went out and collected berries. The young Dewott sensed the Seviper's disapproval, yet he continued to work his musical talents. Some days, the Dewott would watch in disgust as old Seviper devour some innocent Pokemon. Then again, a creature like him couldn't possibly survive on a diet containing nothing else but wild berries. Sometimes after his meal, he would stare around his surroundings with his hungry red eyes. Eager for more flesh or to make sure none of his "neighbours" saw his act.

In autumn, the young couple cleared out some patches of grass in their area and hoed the soil. They planted the seeds of the berries that they've been eating. This caused the "neighbours" to come over and donate a variety of seeds. The Pidgeots donated certain herbs and nuts, along with help pecking the seeds into the soil. The Dewott seemed resented by the "interference" as the Pidgeot couple and their Pidgeies claws trampled over the neatly arranged soil.

Not longer after, the Dewott and the Servine were preparing to build a "nest/shelter" out of sticks and leaves to aid them through the harsh winter. The "neighbours" watched it build up, and fall down. The old Seviper slid into their area uninvited and rebuilt it for them. Despite not having hands, laws or claws, he did a good job at building a "dome cave" with leaves as cushions at the bottom.

As autumn merged into winter and the crisp golden sunsets were followed by sudden, blue dusks with a touch of snow. The sound of Pidgeots crowing at day's end became more frequent, and the young couple found themselves smiling back at the neighbours. The old Seviper, despite his "bad habit" of eating other Pokemon, offered them "armfuls" of berries. The young Servine found herself under Dewotts warm blue coat of fur as he continued to play his wooden flute. The Dewott kept his lover warm; as small snakes like her tend to struggle in the cold. The young couple talked to each other, smiled at each other, hugged each other and perhaps did a little more...

In autumn they planted berry bushes. As winter inches its way to an end, certain berry bushes had ripened fruit. They berries sat silently I the rain, growing "fatter" each day. In spring, the Pidgeot family and the old Seviper showed up to help the young couple harvest to the goods. Soon, they all found themselves sitting under a tree with a mountain of berries. They told each other fascinating stories; especially when it involves "human interaction". The old Seviper found himself sick of eating berries while to Pidgeot couple kept squawking at their children to not waste food. In the haze of never ending dialogue, they found themselves rolling around in joy. Yet, in spring...the young couple found themselves yelling at each other—

—they had not planned on a pregnancy or an egg for that matter. It stunned them to be made parents so...early. In fact, they were more stunned about the fact that they could become parents in the first place. As the days go by, the young Servine became less active as the Dewott took care of her. What comforted her the most was songs the at the Dewott played with his flute.

The old Seviper kept eating other innocent Pokemon. In late spring dawns, he devoured many "infant Pokemon". The young Dewott took out his scalchop; intended to bring some justice to the old black snake. However, the only "justice" that he found out was that the Seviper didn't kill these infant Pokemon. The infants were all still births. The old Seviper hated the fact that he needs to kill for flesh; for he needs to consume it if it wants to live a healthy life. He hated himself. He also hated himself for allowing his lover and his son to leave. A beautiful female Zangoose (an uncommon couple/pair); who the Seviper used to call his mate.

Before long, the young couple realized that the whole forest knew of the pregnancy. Pokemon greeted and smiled tirelessly at them, some even offered to take care of the Servine. In the summer, the "local" psychics types began feeling her belly, telling the young Servine that it was bound to be a boy. The Pidgeots next door, who had many baby Pidgeies, began coughing up names. With much negotiation, the couple settled on the name "Cyrus".

By late summer, the old Seviper next door found himself in the happiest moment in his life. The two most important Zangooses of his life returned; an yet he thought they'll never come back. His son and his lover. The Seviper coiled around them as tears of joy dripped down from his black scales and onto their white fur. His gentle ecstasy filled hisses could be sensed throughout the entire forest.

Labor came abruptly. The young Dewott kept playing his flute, as that's the only thing that'll ease his lovers pain. Coming back after collecting some water, he saw, in the last light of day, yet under the crisp guidance of the stars; there stood in the distance familiar faces. The Pidgeot and Seviper family all waited with concerned, yet, eager looking faces. They waved and cheered at the young Dewott as he rushed home to attend his lover. As day faded into night, the young Servine dozed between contractions, mostly groaning and shouting in pain. She had the Dewott occasionally rub water on her and demanded his comfort whenever possible.

And then came the pushing. The Dewott caressed and stared and trued not to shout. She strained, her face mottled as she kept at it. Push after push, her belly rising up and down in the process, as if there was some "sophisticated barrier". Suddenly the barrier was smashed and she was through. It took his wind away to hold the egg in his two hands. It wasn't a deformed egg, or looked like it had any irregular traits. It was perfect. There the young Dewott knelt, holding a light blue striped egg with golden arches at its rim (like the ones you see on a Serperior). His lover, exhausted yet relieved, called for him. The Dewott gently passed the egg into the young Servine's arms. The fluids on the egg smeared it's mother's own sweat. She gasped, before breaking out in tears with a caring smile. Then, the Dewott heard shouting outside. He went out to see what was going on, only to find his neighbors cheering for him once more. And that was enough to make the Dewott weep. A feeling that no instrument or song could comfort, not even the flute.


End file.
